A Fallen Angel
by Ludo13
Summary: Emmett said that he'd never be able to hit the ball to the heavens with a tree trunk instead of the baseball bat, he accepted the challenge. "Well, looks like you've f****d up big time again Eddiekins. You just managed the impossible. You hit an angel!"
1. A Fallen Angel

**Disclaimer: **All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is stories and characters belong to their rightful owners.

This is a crossover fanfic merging Twilight and Harry Potter verse with Edward and Hermione as main characters. Obviously.

The story is set after Eclipse for Twilight and Deathly Hallows for HP. Spoilers here and there mostly for the Harry Potter Universe.

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**Author Note :**

While you wait for new chapters of my story, A Second Chance, I have pleasure in announcing that I've found a second Beta. Queen of Stars whose going to be beta'ing all my fanfictions with the exception of A Second Chance which is in the hands of Eternallily. So, therefore I take pleasure in giving you the beta'd first chapter for this story and that of A Perfect Girl and The Safe Heaven will follow shortly, just need to work around some information.

Also I just wanted to point out that I've never read any Twilight books,. Just watched the first movie and never got past the first pages of the first book also. So please, no flames if the characters appear too out of character since it won't be intentional unless otherwise needed.

Also I've been more than pleasantly surprised by the response you've given to this story. I'm greatly flattered and hope that the next chapters will reduce your enthusiasm for the story.

So a BIG THANKS to all of you,

**Ludo**

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**A Fallen Angel**

He knew the reasoning behind his family's actions. It was the one big advantage, as well as an inconvenience, of being a mind reader. He already knew the reason for this family outing after reading their thoughts over the last few days. He understood their concern for him, but right now, he could not care less, and he knew that his feelings were carefully monitored by the family's empath. Having existed in this world for ninety-seven years, with only the first seventeen years as a human, he knew exactly how he felt right now. Edward Cullen felt both depressed and angry. The sad state he was in right now only served to frustrate him further and worsen his mood. His family's thoughts and concern was not helping in any way.

And it was all because of her. Bella Swan.

She'd promised to never leave him and to love him unconditionally. But at the first occasion she'd had after they both made it through the fight with Victoria's army of newborn vampires, she told him it was too difficult for her to choose—between the mutt and him. So she just packed her bags and left. She at least had the decency to tell him that she was leaving and did not want to see him again. At first, he had thought that she wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine. Something that he'd applied when he and his family had gone away. But he sadly realised, only later, when he watched her get into her truck, that he'd deluded himself. He did not beg her to stay; he did not have the force to do that as he watched her walk away from his life. A life he'd only gotten back the day when Isabella Marie Swan had walked into his Biology class a couple of years earlier, and then it was as if what had been nearly eighty years of mere existence had never existed. Even though his heart had stopped beating during that fateful night in 1918 when Carlisle Cullen had decided that Edward Anthony Masen could roam the earth for eternity as his son, somehow, his dead organ had started beating again, metaphorically at least, the day he caught the first whiff of her scent.

Today was the fourth of July, and while the nation was celebrating Independence Day, the people of Forks were spending their holiday in the shelter of their homes due to the huge thunderstorm that had hit the town at midday. His family, as Alice had predicted, had decided that a baseball match was the right course of action and would somehow cheer him up. How could she think that, he would never know. Every time he tried to read the reasoning behind that, Alice would start to think randomly of occasions where Jasper and she had shagged, and her thoughts were quite graphic during her reminiscing moments.

Somehow, Alice Cullen was feeling very happy, more than her usual chipper and hyper self actually, as if something extraordinary was going to happen to them that day. As if in his current state of mind something or anything might alleviate his sombre mood. He should just stay in his room and wallow in self pity like he'd been doing, according to Rosalie, but he chose to go with his family. He only wanted to calm his family and let them know that he was at least trying to move on, even if it was horribly difficult for him.

They had been playing for a little over an hour before Emmett, as a joke, dared him to hit the ball towards the sky into the billowing, dark-grey clouds above them. Clouds that were the cause of one of the most intense downpours Forks had ever experienced, and rain was somewhat of a Forks speciality. It was, after all, the rainiest area of the country.

"Ah, my dear little bro," Emmett tutted, "though I acknowledge that you're quite a powerful vampire, I am positively a hundred percent sure that you'll never be able to hit that ball into the cloud cover. Even if you used a tree trunk as a baseball bat." And here, you could insert a derisive snort from said jackass. "Plus, you'll have to go catch the ball once it falls," said the big bear he had as a brother. Of course, the dumbass would not make it easy for him. "So, do you think you'll be able to pull that off, oh brother of mine?" Although he knew that he was only doing this so he would stop thinking of_her_, there was still no mistaking the challenging smile the oaf gave him. His family laughed at his comment.

"You're on," he responded. There no way he was going to back down from this challenge, since he knew that his brothers would never let him live it down if he'd declined it. "Now give me your best shot!" He positioned himself on the batter's box and waited for Emmett's throw.

Emmett only grinned in response while he waited for Alice to signal when it was okay. Ten seconds later a flash of lightning occurred, and Alice nodded to Emmett. The latter then sent flying towards him the quickest ball Emmett had ever thrown, but Edward's reflexes were perfect, and he did not miss the ball. He hit it fast and hard, sending it flying toward the sky above. The Cullens watched as the ball flew upwards and disappeared into the clouds.

Edward smirked in Emmett's direction while the latter only rolled his eyes and mentally reminded him that he needed to catch the ball for the challenge to be complete. Edward looked up again, waiting for the ball to start its descent, when he thought he heard a scream permeating the air during a long clap of thunder. He frowned and turned towards his family to gauge their reactions.

Apparently he was not the only one to have heard a scream, as every member of his family turned their gaze to the sky. He did not have to ask if they'd heard, anyway, since he could detect their thoughts loudly and clearly. If he had to make a quick recap of the others' thoughts, it would sound exactly like Emmett's booming exclamation, "What the fucking hell was that?" Had it been another occasion, Edward knew that Emmett's loud swearing would have quickly been reprimanded by Esme, but the latter was looking, like Emmett, towards the sky in the general direction where they thought the scream originated.

A flash of lightning occurred, and Edward thought he saw a human form tumbling down in the quickly moving clouds, but his mind told him that it could have been a trick of the light with a particular dark spot in the clouds above. A few seconds later, something emerged from the cloud cover, and he realised that he had not been mistaken. It was a human that was rapidly going to crash on their baseball pitch if he did not act quickly. He did not have time to think of how on earth a human would be hit by a baseball while apparently hiding in the clouds. Or even how he could have been hiding in the clouds in the first place. All he knew was that it was his duty to rescue this human before he plummeted to death because of him.

"Well," Emmett uncommonly drawled, "it looks like you've fucked up again big time today, Eddiekins! Apparently, you've just managed the impossible. You hit an angel!"

The Cullen family could only watch mesmerised as the "angel" in question continued its quick fall. Edward moved rapidly at vampire speed and found himself directly under the "angel's" point of impact, but he knew that he had to somehow slow the fall to reduce the blow. So since he knew that the force would be immensely reduced if he had already caught the "angel" prior to hitting the ground, he jumped into the air.

He caught the latter only a few seconds beforehand, and the force with which he had jumped managed not only to slow down the fall but, as he'd calculated, the speed as well. When his feet touched the ground, he bore the brunt of the crash while the "angel" was safely cradled in his arms. Due to the force of the impact, his feet sunk a few centimetres into the muddy pitch.

It was only then, after pulling his feet out of the ground and straightening himself, that Edward looked at the collateral victim of Emmett's challenge, and he realised that the "angel" in question was a she. A very beautiful one also. She had flawless, soft, white skin, a heart-shaped face with a straight nose, and gorgeously pink, full lips. Her hair was long with thick, brown, wavy curls, and even though Edward only held her in his arms, he could guess that she was petite compared to his tall frame.

His family had rushed to his side after their abnormal shock, and Carlisle was already checking her to see if there was any damage. Esme was telling them that they needed to get her out of the rainstorm, as she would catch a cold in addition to whatever damage she suffered from the hit and fall. With their superhuman vampire speed, the Cullens quickly found themselves in the shelter of their cars. Edward along with the "angel" still in his arms was at the back of Emmett's jeep while Carlisle still prodded the girl to make sure everything was all right.

It only took a few minutes to make it back to their house and to have Edward placing the "angel" on the couch in his room. He did not know why he had brought her into his room as, after all, it would have been much quicker and more convenient to place her on the couch in the living room, but Edward thought it was his personal responsibility that the angel was in this current state. So he brought her up into his room to be able to watch over her if anything happened. Throughout Carlisle's meticulous examination of the girl, he did not leave her side, nor did he remove his hold on her. He held her hands while he watched Carlisle's thorough examination. He held his breath as he waited for his father's verdict. It was one of those rather rare occasions where Edward Cullen simply forgot his mind reading ability. He was agitated.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with her right now, other than her sporting a very serious bump on the head," began Carlisle.

"Thanks to Eddiekins." Of course Emmett had to share his much unneeded thoughts with everyone, and that only served to annoy Edward.

"Right now she's just unconscious, and she will wake up very soon, and we'll then know how this happened," continued Carlisle as though there had been no unnecessary comment from  
Emmett.

It was as if someone had opened Pandora's Box as Edward's mind was assaulted with the thoughts and questions of his family pertaining to their "guest." But all the while, Edward could not help but think that this day had brought on a significant change to his existence. His life had changed with the arrival of the young woman that lay there on his couch, although he still did not have an inkling as to how much change had been brought into his life by the "angel." A fallen angel.

_His fallen angel_.


	2. A Productive Mind

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

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**A Productive Mind**

Edward had been sitting in the living room for only fifteen minutes, and he was already thoroughly annoyed. His entire focus was on his bedroom upstairs where his mother and sisters were taking care of their guest. They, the men of the family, had been ushered out of the room by them, the women of their family. Esme said that they needed to change the clothes on their strange guest, which had been drenched by the storm that still raged on outside.

He had not noticed it until now, but indeed the girl was drenched from head to toe, and if they did not get her out of her clothes, she was sure to catch a nasty flu. On top of everything that had already happened to her. He noticed, however, that she was wearing a long, black coat over her white button-up blouse and pencil-grey skirt. Her attire was complete with long black socks and a pair of black and blue sneakers. She also carried a small, beaded bag around her neck. All in all, it was nothing extremely remarkable. It was clear to him from reading Alice's thoughts that his sister strongly disapproved of the choice of clothing. If that wasn't enough, then the persistent clucking noise only confirmed it. If she had any say in the matter, and he was absolutely certain that she would act on it, anyway, Alice was sure to play her favourite activity soon. Let's dress up the new, shiny doll. And whatever the girl would tell Alice would not be taken into consideration.

He had been listening to his father and brothers discuss this new development and the circumstances pertaining to that development when he heard someone gasping above them. He focused his entire mind-reading ability on the three women above, and what he was able to read and see was not something he was totally comfortable with.

"Oh my ... the poor dear! Who could have done this to her?" He heard Esme's thoughts very clearly, and when he tried seeing in the latter's mind what had shocked her so much, he wished he hadn't been that curious. The 'angel' above had a long scar marring her pale skin along her right-side, which started from just below her breast and travelled across her body towards her navel. It looked jagged and rough, and he imagined that whatever had caused that scar had also been excruciatingly painful. He also noticed that her skin also bore various scratch and cut marks as well as some bruising skin along her ribs. It looked like she'd been administered a very serious beating not long ago. There was also a thin, long line that stood out on her throat as though someone had pressed a sharp knife there and would have split it.

He heard Esme's call for Carlisle, who swiftly went up to his room and checked the injuries that had been uncovered. He could not stop himself. He got up and followed his father, but he stayed by the door as he watched the latter examine the injuries.

"It looks like that whatever has caused that scar happened a few years ago. I might be mistaken," somehow Edward doubted that, "but I'd say that this happened no more than three years ago. However, all these: the cuts, the bruises and everything else, looks like they happened not very long ago. The oldest," he pointed towards the bruises on her body, the thin line on her throat and at something on her right arm that he did not see from his point of view, "should be about four months old. The other scratches and cuts have been inflicted some two months ago. Early May I'd presume. There's nothing much I can do right now for these," Carlisle announced as he straightened himself.

"But what kind of monsters could have done that to her? She looks like she's barely twenty." Esme could not help but ask. The problem was that none of them, other than the girl lying on his bed, had the answer to this question.

"It looks like she's been in the middle of a battle-field or something like that," he heard Jasper think as he appeared by his side. It sure looked like it. After the battle with Victoria's newborn vampires and the aftermath of that, he'd thought he would not be the witness to such suffering again to mortals.

He was again ushered out of the way by his mother and made his way back to the living room, all the while pondering the mystery that was the girl currently lying unconscious on his bed. He did not understand it himself. How did she get those injuries? Some of them looked definitely nasty. One of the advantages of being a vampire was that he did not have to fear any injury unless he was being hunted down by some other vampire or the 'children of the moon' looking for his destruction. Whatever had happened to her?

"It's strange how there is no scent attached to her," he heard Carlisle and Jasper think at the same time. He had not even noticed that. To tell the truth, Edward was entirely focused on her well-being and had not even noticed if she smelled. And he did not even know why he cared that much. For the past few days, other than trying to appease his family that his depressive mood was ebbing away, he had not cared about any other thing. And that thought scared him. It wasn't that he thought that he could be attracted to a girl, who had not even opened her eyes, so quickly, but the mere idea of that scared him. He could not deal with a new heartbreak right now. He knew that whoever that girl was, that she was not likely to stay with them only because he would want her to. Did he actually want her to stay?

"She's not going to be waking up soon," said Carlisle as he picked up one of the many magazines on the coffee table and flipped through the pages for anything that might interest him.

"What is this girl thinking anyway, Eddie?" asked Emmett.

If Emmett had not asked him, Edward would not have realised that ever since the girl had 'stumbled' into their lives, he did not hear one single thought from her. He could hear the thoughts and read the minds of everyone. Even when they were asleep or in an unconscious state. Everyone except Bella. And now maybe her. He focused his mind reading abilities on the girl that lay upstairs on his bed. A bed that he had installed in his room for Bella's convenience. He knew that his current train of thought would not help alleviate his former mood, and thus he shook himself to be able to concentrate again.

He focused his entire power on the girl and was surprised when he heard a melodious voice with a thick, British accent.

"I am so going to _thank_ Ronald Weasley for his _marvellous_ suggestion of the Portkey for international travel. _Portkey travel is one quick way to travel, Hermione._" He heard her mental huff. "This is just fantastic. I am not prone to cursing but this situation, whatever it is, just calls for desperate measures. This is BLOODY fantastic. If he got hit by Ginny's Bat-Bogey hex it will be a blessing once his carrot-top head appears on my radar. He'll be sorry that—"

Edward did not hear the rest of the rant. And one very strange rant it was. It was gibberish to him. All he understood was that it was Ronald Weasley's fault that the girl was traveling from wherever she was from. "_Probably England_," he told himself. He knew that her name was Hermione and that she did not curse often. Hermione, it was a rare and beautiful name. But what he wanted to know was how did she travel and what was a Portkey? What was the Bat-Bogey hex?

He looked up to see his brother looking impatiently at him.

"Well, what do you have?" mentally asked Emmett.

He just raised a hand in response, asking him to keep quiet as he wanted to try again and find more. His brother only huffed in response and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'silly self-important mind-readers and their abilities'. He knew that it annoyed Emmett greatly when Alice or he would not immediately share any information they would acquire with their gift. But after everything that happened during the past hour and Emmett's attitude towards him, Edward was ready to leave him stew. He had a more important thing to do at the moment.

He again focused his ability on the girl upstairs. He needed to understand what the girl was thinking. He did not like not knowing and being left out of the loop. He concentrated hard on hearing or reading Hermione's mind. The hardest he ever tried. Something baffling happened.

He had... He did not know how to explain what happened to him. Edward found himself somehow inside of Hermione's mind. Normally, when people were asleep, unconscious or in a state that would not require them to pay attention, their minds would conjure some place familiar. A place where they liked to be and where they could think. If Edward was still able to sleep, he knew that this special subconscious place for him would be his meadow, lost in the heart of the Olympic National Park forest.

So it appeared to him that the special place for Hermione was a library. At least it appeared to be. There were large windows that allowed for bright, natural light to bathe the interior of the 'library'. There were towering shelves of what, at first, appeared to be stacked full with books aligned in a perfectly symmetrical order. When he looked more closely into the nearby rows, he understood what was stored there. Thoughts.

Hermione had a very organized mind. There were rows that were labelled 'School', 'Home', 'Work', 'Life', 'Family', 'Friends' and 'Projects'. She even had a section labelled as 'Miscellaneous'! And it was precisely in front of that section that Edward found Hermione standing with her back to him. As he'd guessed, she was petite compared to his tall frame. Even though he knew that it could be a trick of his mind, he knew he was right.

He'd learned with time that people often pictured themselves with completely different physical attributes. It was rare that people pictured themselves in their dreams or fantasies as themselves. Those who had a weight problem would see themselves either with less or with more weight so that their physical stature would be more at an advantage. But this was different. In Hermione's mind, Hermione saw only herself. She liked and accepted who and how she was and did not want to be someone else. He did not know why, but he liked that. She had curly brown hair, slightly wild even.

She was talking to herself. To Edward, it seemed that Hermione decided to make use of her temporary handicap to sort out the thoughts she had labelled as 'Miscellaneous'. Edward observed her silently. He did not dare breathe. Not that he had any need for that.

"As soon as this is finished, I'll be bringing you back. I miss you so much." She was standing in front of some image that he could not see, but he did get a glimpse of it as the thought was 'filed' in the 'Family' section which had moved forward towards her. It was an image of a couple in their late forties.

"I need to finish this theory on wandlore and their properties." The thought was sent into a sub-section in the 'Projects' section. Peering into it, he noted the finer details of the section; Priority, Consideration, Completion, Dismissal and Research. Edward concluded that Hermione's mind was strange. Definitely the strangest thing he'd ever encountered. But it was still interesting.

"Vampires and venoms," he nearly gasped, "I don't know if this is a laughing matter or if research will ever get me somewhere." The thought was filed into the 'Dismissal' sub-section.

"Let's do some more research before dismissing it completely." The thought was then sent into the 'Research' sub-section.

"Wolfsbane potion. That's nearly finished, so I might as well finish this one." Edward noted that she spoke with a satisfied voice as the thought was sent to the 'Priority' sub-section.

"Ronald Weasley!" The fond exasperation that he detected in the voice of Hermione made him smile. "Once I know what has happened to me, I'll decide how you'll repay me." He detected an underlying threat in her voice. Edward knew that Ronald Weasley, whoever he was, would pay greatly for his sins once the girl had him in her line of sight.

He let escape a small chuckle, thinking that it would not be heard, but he was mistaken.

Hermione had turned so quickly in his direction that he temporarily froze on the spot. He found himself the object of the unflinching stare of her honey brown orbs. It was like he was being examined under a microscope.

"Who are you?" she asked him.

"Err, I'm Edward Cullen," he answered cautiously.

"I don't have any memory of an Edward Cullen. What are you doing inside my mind? Don't you know the meaning of the word 'privacy', Edward Cullen?" she snapped at him. He wasn't welcomed.

"I needed to know if you were okay," he supplied as reason for his intrusion.

"Well, as you can see, I'm not writhing in pain or living completely in La-La land despite the rather odd circumstances. So you know the way out?" She waved her hand at him, asking him to leave.

"I'll leave you to your sorting," he realised too late that it was the wrong thing to say when her expression turned hostile, "but I have to tell you that you're currently staying at my place after your accident."

She arched a brow in response.

"Before I ask you again to leave, would you care to explain to me, Edward Cullen, what kind of accident are you referring to?" She looked at him questioningly.

"You were hit with a baseball..." He would have asked her how she managed to find herself in the clouds, but she did not let him finish.

"Who could send a baseball with cannon speed into the clouds?" she questioned him.

"It was a dare from my brother, and the ball went flying very high." Now that he thought about it, it was plain stupid. And he'd sunk to Emmett's level.

"It is because of you, then?" He only nodded in response.

"How much time will I stay unconscious?" She was oddly calm.

"My father, who is a doctor, says that it will take a few hours."

"Right. So, Edward Cullen..." He was going to ask her to call him Edward only. It was rather irritating. "If I happen to have any lasting side-effect after this accident that would somehow qualify as a mild handicap, please be aware that I'll castrate you. Personally." She looked particularly murderous.

_Shit_.

"That won't be necessary," he reassured her.

"I'll be the one that'll be deciding if it's necessary or not," she told him bossily. "Just so you know the consequences, okay," she said sweetly before her face turned fierce again. "Now that you've been forewarned, I'll ask you one more thing."

"What?" He was surprisingly afraid to ask what she wanted.

"GET OUT!" she yelled.

He felt like he was being thrown out of her mind, and when he opened his eyes, he was surprised to find Emmett still standing in front of him.

He again tried to enter Hermione's mind, but he found himself hitting a wall. It was as if one thick wall had been built around the mind in which he had been a moment before.

DOUBLE SHIT!

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**Chapter note: **

I've contemplated for a long time whether Edward could read Hermione's mind or not. I am rather satisfied with the compromise that I've got.

I've always imagined that Hermione's mind would be as organized as her life or her school work. The original chapter was not planned this way but I decided to change it because of that outrageous idea that I had. Hermione using her 'spare time' to organize her thoughts. It's possibly the craziest idea I've had in a long time and by the way, I have one very insane imagination by the way.

The chapter is not as long as I originally wanted but I hope it will still satisfy your expectations.

I have one crazy idea for a new Edmione story but I don't know if I'll have time to spare for a new project. I'll listen to any co-writing idea should there be any interested parties.

Have a great one and take care.

**Ludo**

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**Thanks to all reviewers:**

waterflower20, lil-miss-sammi, YearOfJudges, In your dreams bby x3, loserbelle, ashley, crimsonprincess99, NightingaleRhapsody, Marsgoddess1, anajosephina, len, Kimay, The-tall-girl-in-green, writeme516, bbonin, posiden'sdaughter, cjewellm, klgaliza, TimeRose, ariah23, HollyAnne87, BeCkY, YesILoveMyHorse, crazikido2, deator11, saqqara08, arabellagrace, 8thweasleykid, Pineapple.X, speech of silence, LetMeLoveYou, lucilala, Toxxick Lollie, coeur de plume, LauRawrCait, Kitty-on-CRACK, CheshireCat23, Megan Consoer, Vee, Liza, Painelust, The Alternative Source, Desi-Pari Always, Banana Flavored Eskimo, Carolina Zoldyeck, Iriomote Yamaneko Nokomis, Gina619, unaveragedsimplicity, Anonymous reviewer (06/12), ShiningxXxShadowxXxThief, Azera-v, Tearainy, The Lady of the Land, Salena Knight, mekom, Rosalie Carlisle Cullen, Dark Latinas

Answers to anonymous reviewers and for those that have disabled the private message feature

**TimeRose**  
I am always pleased to know that readers loved to read a story. It's always makes the sharing a wonderful experience.

**Ashley**  
I therefore hope that this new chapter satisfied your curiosity.

**Kimay**  
Yeah. Hermione being willingly in the air is something of a miracle. Of course she won't be happy; the chapter just gave an inkling of how she felt because of that.

**len**  
I hope this chapter satisfied your curiosity.

**For anajosephina & crazikido2**  
Yeah. I try when possible to create an original twist for any story. I want to deviate from the usual twist in the HP/Twilight crossovers where Hermione would usually move into Forks and fall for a vampire or a wolf.

Hermione being willingly in the air is something of a miracle. Of course she won't be happy; the chapter just gave an inkling of how she felt because of that.

**YesILoveMyHorse**  
I am always pleased to know that readers loved to read a story. It's always makes the sharing a wonderful experience. I try to surprise the readers with my plot twist.

**For BeCkY, LetMeLoveYou, Liza, coeur de plume & unaveragedsimplicity**  
I therefore hope that this new chapter satisfied your curiosity.

**Vee**  
I understand. When I write and post a chapter, I don't always check if the information is coherent. I have a tendency to make long-winded sentences and it does not always make the reading easy. I thus opted to have a beta checking my work. I am always pleased to know that readers loved to read a story. It's always makes the sharing a wonderful experience

* * *

**End Note:**

I wish to end this chapter by saying that the response to this story is above my highest expectations. I take this opportunity to thank everyone that have reviewed, listed it as one of their favorites or put a story alert for it.

Thanks everyone and take care.

**Ludo**


	3. A Brotherly Nuisance

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

* * *

**A Brotherly Nuisance**

"This is a bad idea," he whispered to his family. They had all gathered in his room wanting to have a look in Hermione's small beaded bag so as to know what they might be facing later.

"Shut up, Edward," snapped Rosalie. "This girl can kick you out of her mind and willingly block you out. She managed all of that while she's still unconscious. She could be very dangerous."

"Yes, Edward," agreed Jasper. "If she can do all that while she's just unconscious I don't want to know what she can do when she'll be awake."

"Oh, Jazzy! You don't have to worry about that. It's Edward that's she hates, remember? So, like I said before, if she can do that to our darling but annoying, little Eddie," Emmett flashed him a devilish smirk, "she can't be all that bad. That gives her a very good place in my books."

As always, Emmett was being himself. A complete _jackass_. He'd not stop badgering him after he told his family what had happened to him.

"So, let me get this straight." Emmett had asked earlier. "She kicked you out of her mind just like that." In Emmett's mind it was that the girl, Hermione, had given him the boot and pushed him out of her mind. More of a Karate kick on his ass than a gentle shove. Emmett had kept asking the same question for the past fifteen minutes. It was driving him nuts. And the bastard knew it because Jasper had told him so.

"I like that girl already," Emmett had proclaimed after that.

"_Typical,"_ Edward thought.

When he'd informed his family about what the girl, Hermione, had done, they had all been rather tense and apprehensive of her. And so was him. "_How was it even possible?"  
_  
"How much do you think she knows about vampires?" Carlisle had asked. "You said, Edward, that she mentioned something about vampires and their venoms?" Edward nodded at his father.

"I also heard her saying that she didn't know if it was a laughing matter or if the research would ever get her somewhere, Carlisle." He added. "Who could have any research on vampires and their venoms, Carlisle?"

"That's a good question but for the time being, I believe only Hermione knows the answer." Carlisle replied. "You told us that there were some odd words that she'd said?"

"Yep, there were a couple of those. Like she said she'd taken a 'Portkey' for international travel and that the guy that suggested it would be glad if he only got hit by a 'Bat-Bogey Hex'. I don't want to be in that guy's place." He would never voice it out loud, and most certainly not in front of his brothers, but his encounter with Hermione had left him somewhat shaken.

"Edward," Emmett sighed dramatically, "the problem is that you're probably already in that guy's place. Remember, she hates you and kicked you out of her mind." Jasper and Emmett guffawed at his expense. Even Carlisle tried to hide his grin.

"Emmett, shut up!" He hissed. Did Emmett have to constantly remind him of that episode? Edward had strategically omitted the part where Hermione had threatened to make him a eunuch. He feared his sanity if that little bit of information slipped out.

"Boys, please!" Carlisle ordered. "We need to figure out how all of this happened and you're not helping in anyway Emmett."

"Why are we discussing this here while we know that the girl has a small bag. There must be something in that bag that would help us know more on her, don't you think?" Jasper suggested turning to Carlisle.

"That's true … it might –" Carlisle started to explain but was interrupted when Emmett abruptly stood up.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's take a look at that little bag." Emmett had already run to his bedroom where his mother and sisters had finished changing Hermione.

When Edward arrived at his bedroom door, Emmett had already grabbed the bag from the night-table but looked towards his father who appeared at his side. He pouted but handed the bag to him and went back to join Jasper and him at the door. They watched as Carlisle opened the bag to peek inside.

"What the fuck?" Carlisle cursed but was scolded almost immediately by Esme.

"What is it, Carlisle?" Jasper asked.

Carlisle turned to look at them and Edward heard him whisper, "It's like this bag is bottomless!"

"What?" they all chorused surprised in response.

If the day had been one the strangest of his existence, then the following turn of events certainly established it as the strangest day of all. For every one of them. They all watched as Carlisle put his hand inside the bag. What freaked them all was however when they saw Carlisle hand going down to nearly his shoulder in the bag. That bag did not even measure up to his wrist.

"FUCK!" Emmett yelled. It was testament to how they were all shocked that Esme did not even bother scolding him for his language.

Carlisle's hand pulled out something that looked like an old oil painting. It surprised them all that it could have fitted in the bag as the width itself of the bag could not have allowed such a big object to fit in. Emmett's reaction however to this new development was the most hilarious of all the Cullens as he'd backed completely into the railing and when the portrait was pulled out, he'd jumped in fear and toppled over the railing to crash on one small table directly below. Revenge after-all was best served cold.

Emmett stomped his way up to his bedroom door again amidst every one's laughter. Jasper was howling with laughter on Alice's back while they looked at him trudging up to them completely disgruntled. Edward could not help but tease him for that. "_An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth._" He thought

"You'd think that for a vampire you'd be graceful. But from what we've seen today, you have the grace of an elephant, Emmett!" He chuckled at the latter's dark look.

"Well, excuse me for not fitting the job description for being a vampire by being ungraceful. But I had more important things to worry about than being graceful. Like being freaked out by what I've seen." Emmett justified.

"Darling, we're all freaked by what we saw but none of us managed to make a fool of themselves." Rosalie remarked with a wide grin.

Jasper was still snickering. It was rare to see the blond male who was always so serious, so unguarded and it brought a smile to Edward witnessing this. Jasper had always this military precision that he had not lost after more than a hundred years roaming the planet.

"I'm therefore very happy to have provided to you all some last minute entertainment," Emmett bowed in mock salute. That only continued the general happy mood in the Cullen household. That was until they all heard that melodious British voice.

"Erm, could you people make less noise here? Some of us are trying to rest!" Hermione quipped making every one jump.

"Now, who was ungraceful?" Emmett remarked with a laugh.

* * *

**Author note: **I know. It's an extremely short chapter for the long wait since the last.  
For the time being, it'll have to make do as I've lost my beta. Haven't got any feedback since November! I understand that she has other things to do but a little message somewhere would not have been bad.

I'll therefore be publishing the following chapters without any beta'ing done but I'll be checking for any errors left before any posting. I am sorry for any inconvenience it might cause any of you. Right now, I don't have the patience to look for a new beta.

**Next chapter title: **An Embarassing Revelation

I wish to end this chapter by saying that the response to this story is above my highest expectations. I take this opportunity to thank everyone that have reviewed, listed it as one of their favorites or put a story alert for it.

I thank everyone for your comprehension.

Thanks everyone and take care.

**Ludo  
**

* * *

**Thanks to all reviewers:**

TeamJazzy2571, emina, PrincessCupcake, dubbi89, fukyuu yume, whoopies13, hateme101, Dreamsb223, Mrs. Regulus Arcturus Black, sunny smiles, waterflower20, dreamserpent2.0, Analelle, Megan Consoer, Nikki-4, Galaxy Defending Lovatic, ThePurpleDragoness, 8thweasleykid, Amerilia Lily Lotus, Ceralyn, IAmTheStars, Kitty-on-CRACK, yoyoyo, TheBlackSeaReaper, mekom, HGlovesDM-LHlovesJM, Len, Angel JJK, Gueneviere, cosmoGirl666, Desi-Pari Always, Pirates16103, Salena Knight, The Alternative Source, ShiningxXxShadowxXxThief, Iriomote Yamaneko Nokomis, CheshireCat23, ariah23, arabellagrace, NorthernLights25, Marsgoddess1, AndreaLion, iloveebfanfics


	4. An Embarrassing Revelation

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

* * *

**An Embarrassing Revelation**

The Cullen family reacted pretty quickly after Emmett's remark. In other words, in the blink of an eye. Carlisle was next to her after he'd quickly put back the framed painting in the small bag. Edward had foolishly believed that after the miraculous task of pulling that one out of the bag, like the classic rabbit out of a hat by a magician, that putting the frame back in the bag would be a monumental task. But he was however quickly proved wrong as the frame fit right back in, as though this was nothing strange. If Edward did know any better at the present time, he would have known that he was about to be proved wrong on numerous occasions with the arrival of their guest. Edward only raised an eyebrow as he looked at his father after they all witnessed this new bizarre occurrence.

"_Remarkable_," Carlisle thought. He then noticed Edward's inquisitive look and thought, "_Well, there's no need to have Hermione be mad at someone else now, don't you think?_"

It wasn't really what he had thought about but when he thought about it, it made perfect sense. The slight problem would be that if Hermione ever found out about this, she could quickly think that it was him who had again been nosing around in her business. And it would not be prudent given the current circumstances.

"Hermione", Carlisle said, "my name is Carlisle Cullen and I'm a doctor. Are you alright?"

"I'm surprisingly fine considering the rather unfortunate event that has happened to me!" She snapped. Ok, maybe she had not properly calmed down since their weird encounter in her mind. But all things considered, Edward thought Hermione might feel properly justified in her snappish reply after all that's happened to her.

"I'm going to do some tests to check if you don't have any lasting side effects from the little 'incident' that you'd been involved in. So if you feel any discomfort, please advise me so that we can remedy this as quickly as possible." Carlisle continued as though he'd heard nothing. "_Not a good sign if she's in a bad mood_," thought his father figure. Carlisle gestured to Jasper to use his abilities to dampen the bad mood on the British girl.

The Cullen family all felt the calming waves from the empath in their midst directed towards the lying girl. However, they were not prepared for the next exclamation from the girl.

"I don't know how you're doing this but it better stop right now, Edward Cullen?" she growled.

_Fuck_. She even thought that it was his doing.

"Well, it looks like someone is out for your hide, Edward. I don't know why but she seems like the kind of person that could really cause you harm if she wants to. Didn't I tell you that you were already in someone else shoes. That Rupert Wassel something." Emmett remarked with a grin.

Always trust Emmett to find humour in the worst of situations. The vampire family however noted that when Carlisle had touched Hermione for the first time that the latter did not flinch as they all expected but only hummed. As if she'd come to some unknown conclusion.

The Cullens all watched Carlisle as he checked and asked Hermione from time to time if she felt any discomfort. Questions to which the young woman would only nod or shook her head. She had not yet opened her eyes but she was slowly breathing as if to calm herself. Something that Jasper confirmed in a small whisper for only the family to hear.

"Hermione," said Carlisle cautiously, "I'm going to check your eyes. So I'll need you to open them for me." He already had his small flash-light in hand.

It was only then that Hermione opened her eyes. She stared at his room's ceiling for a long moment then blinked once, blinked twice and for good measure thrice. She let out a long sigh before she closed her eyes again. After muttering wordlessly and taking one long calming breath, she opened her eyes again. She turned towards Carlisle, stared at him for a long moment then looked around his room and stopped on the side of the room where every other Cullen stood bar Carlisle and Esme who stayed beside Carlisle to assist him if needed. Again Hermione blinked her eyes while she fixed the Cullen 'kids' with a very steady gaze, then she turned her head back to look at the ceiling before blinking a last time. She then again took one long breath before opening her mouth to speak.

"Doctor Cullen, I …" She started before Carlisle interrupted her.

"Carlisle, you can call me Carlisle, Hermione." His father told her with a smile. She'd turned her to him at the sound of his voice.

"Doctor Cullen," she insisted firmly and coolly. In Edward's short experience from his interactions with Hermione, he somehow doubted that whatever the latter was going to say would be pleasant to hear. "Doctor Cullen," she repeated, "you remember saying that you were going to check if I had any lasting side effects from the 'little', as you called it, incident that I was involved in. Right?"

"Yes, it is. Do you …" Carlisle started to ask but he was interrupted.

"Well, yes. There'll be no need for that now as I do believe that I've found I have one lasting side effect from this 'little' incident as you've so kindly put it. And I believe that in most cultures, it's considered one seriously handicapping event, Edward Cullen!" She said loudly.

The family had turned to him as they all thought of what Edward had managed to hide from them. But before anyone could ask what it was, Hermione continued talking.

"Doctor Cullen, I think I'm blind." She announced softly.

"What?" Carlisle asked although they'd all heard her very clearly. Super-hearing and all that jazz.

"I said, that I think I'm blind, Doctor Cullen" she clearly proclaimed.

"_Damn_," Edward thought. He'd believe that once Hermione was fully back on her feet that she'd not want to stay around. She'd quickly go wherever she was planning on going in whatever unknown travel mode she happened to have. Even though, he somehow felt that with the absence of Hermione in his life, he would miss out on something. Something big and incredible.

In no time, Carlisle checked her eyes with his flash-light and when there was no proper response from Hermione, Carlisle could only tell him through his thoughts that she was indeed blind though he believed it was only a temporary state due to the shock. Edward whispered this information to the rest of his family.

"I'm sorry Hermione to confirm that indeed you're currently blind. But this state is only temporary due to the brutal shock that you had." Carlisle told her slowly to reassure her. "I think we will need to get you to hospital for any further tests. To get a more accurate grip on how much damage was done and how long it would take for you to be back to normal."

"I don't think that I have any other choice right now." Hermione said sadly.

"Edward will carry you to the car and we will get you to the hospital in no time." Carlisle told her as he gathered his things.

"Actually, I'd prefer if someone else could do that right now. Considering the rather negative opinion that I have of your son right now, I don't think it is a judicious decision."

"Oh Eddie, she really hates you!" Emmett whispered. As if he did not know already.

"I promise, I won't hurt you." Edward said in his defence.

"I don't doubt that you won't." She said with thick sarcasm. "However, that's a promise that I don't think I'll be able to keep when it comes to you!" Hermione informed his family and him. But it didn't matter to Edward because he was stubborn. And he was a vampire. That little slip of a girl could not do any damage to him even if she tried hard. Very hard. At least, without any fire involved. And he doubted that she could somehow hurl a ball of fire in his direction or something along the lines of that. So he ignored the warning and scooped her up.

She surprisingly did not fight him, nor did she talk along the way to the hospital. Carlisle drove quickly to the best hospital in the vicinity so that meant that they had to go all the way to Seattle. But with vampires, speed was something that came naturally. Even with the cars. Only Alice had accompanied them in Carlisle's car to Seattle. She sat in the passenger seat in the front while Hermione and himself sat in the back. Hermione had laid her head against the cool door window and every once in a while would let out an exasperated sigh.

When they arrived at the hospital, Carlisle had quickly explained the situation to one of his colleagues there while he carried Hermione inside until she was provided with a wheelchair. Edward, Carlisle and Hermione were led to an examination room while Alice took care of the paper-work. However, Edward did hear Alice telling the nurse at the counter that Hermione was his fiancé. As a cover-up for any family members that was needed for contact. That little pixie was really annoying.

It was only two hours later that after all tests were done and the results thoroughly analysed that the doctor, Jennings, said that Hermione had indeed suffered a severe shock. For the doctor, apparently, she had looked directly at the sun for too long, even if it was a few seconds, when she fell after she was knocked by a falling branch while she was outdoors. The falling branch thing was of course the ready-made excuse that they'd made up for any unnecessary questions. But the Cullens could conclude that when Hermione was hit by the baseball, she was very high in the air above the cloud-cover perhaps and had looked at the sun and somehow damaged her retinas. However Doctor Jennings reassured everyone and primarily Hermione and himself, as he was her 'fiancé', that there had been very minimal damage. And that Hermione's sight would gradually come back completely in a few weeks' time.

Hermione, when she heard the news, stayed very silent. Although, Doctor Jennings wanted to keep Hermione in observation for a few days, Carlisle managed to convince him that she would be perfectly looked after by his family and mostly by Edward. Thus, again the four of them found themselves back in Carlisle's car on the return journey to Forks. And, yet again, Hermione remained silent.

It was only after she was back at the house and that again he'd placed her on his bed that Hermione spoke up again.

"Erm, Doctor Cullen," she began slowly. "Do you happen to have some very sharp instrument like a scalpel or maybe something more heavy like a sledgehammer available?" She asked ominously.

"Yes, I do have those available. But what do want to do with those tools if I may ask?" Carlisle asked curiously.

"Oh, it's just that I was planning on keeping the promise I made to your son!" she said faux-sweetly.

"And what is it?" Carlisle asked as he turned to him. "_You didn't tell us that she promised you something, Edward_." Edward properly heard the accusatory tone in his father's thought.

"You're uncomfortable, Edward?" noted Jasper.

"I told Edward that if I ever had any lasting side-effect from this that could be considered by me as even one mild handicap that I would end his ability to pleasure himself or anyone else for that matter."

"_Wasn't she sweet?_" Edward thought as he anticipated his doomsday.

His family was silent for he did not know how much time but then everyone, as if they'd come to the same conclusion at the same time, looked at Edward's body then moved their eyes down to his crotch area. He was doomed.

The thunderous laughter that echoed around the house after that deafened Edward super-sensitive hearing but he was still able to hear Hermione's smart comment.

"I do believe that the humiliation served today is enough of a punishment for now. Well at least for me, it is. Don't you think so, Edward?" Hermione asked him sweetly.

"Oh, I do agree, my darling fiancé!" He couldn't hide his grin when Hermione scowled in response remembering the trip to the hospital and that lame cover-up excuse.

At least, in Edward's opinion, he had not lost that much dignity. He turned to his family who were still at different levels in hysterics. Emmett made a cutting gesture like a pair of scissors in his direction before howling again.

"_Well, maybe not!_" He thought miserably.

That episode wouldn't be easily forgotten. Sadly as a vampire, he was immortal and that meant there maybe years, decades or centuries of teasing ahead of him at the expense of his siblings.

DAMN.

* * *

**Author note: **

I know. Again it's a short chapter but at least for once I've been able to deliver this chapter at the deadline that I've fixed myself. As my birthday gift to you, I thank you all by giving you this chapter. Hopefully, you'll like it as well as the precedent ones.

Sadly, I won't make any promises for the next one as I want to make it as perfect as I've pictured it to be. It will be a very important chapter and it can be considered as the turning point in the story. I've caught your attention now, didn't I? So stay tuned as I hope to be able to publish this new chapter ASAP.

Initially I was going to have Hermione be temporarily paralysed at the legs and have this chapter from Hermione's point of view. But I've changed it halfway to stay for the time being on Edward's point of view.

I'm also thinking of writing a collaborative piece or maybe just share the ideas I have for a new story with another author. So if anyone is seriously interested and committed, please send me a PM and we'll get talking.

**Next chapter title: **_An Impossible Possibility_

As always, I wish to end this chapter by saying that the response to this story is above my highest expectations. I take this opportunity to thank everyone that have reviewed (all reviews have been answered), listed it as one of their favourites or put a story alert for it.

I thank everyone for your comprehension.

Thanks everyone and take care.

**Ludo  
**

* * *

**Thanks to all reviewers:**

8thweasleykid, NorthernLights25, Antraquinblue, Desi-Pari Always, Marsgoddess1, CosmoGirl666, Ariah23, HollyAnne87, TheIcecreamGeek, Leckie, Kitty-on-Crack, Anmarie, TsukiyoTenshi, Nikki-4, ShiningxXxShadowxXxThief, BluePhoenixPrime, DGfleetfox, Lolitude, Waterflower20, NanaFreezy, Legolas's Mione0233, Hateme101, Spychick989, Klgaliza, Goldenfightergirl, IfLooksCouldKill13, TheBlackSeaReaper, Mrs. Regulus Arcturus Black, Lostfeather1.


	5. An Impossible Possibility

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

* * *

**An Impossible Possibility**

Once Hermione was calmed after her outburst as well as his family from the 'Chop-Chop Incident' as it was dubbed later by Emmett, the Cullens held a family reunion in the living and left Hermione to rest. The Cullens needed to decide what they had to do about Hermione.

As always, Rosalie said that they should leave her in a hospital where she would be properly looked after. Jasper readily agreed with her and argued that Hermione could be more than dangerous for their family if she could consciously block Edward out of her mind and feel him tampering with her feelings.

Alice said that she did not mind having Hermione around and that she believed her presence would have a positive impact on the family. What she meant and Edward knew it because he'd read the thought in her mind, was that Hermione would have a positive impact on him. He wondered aloud if Alice had seen something concerning Hermione and him but the latter shook her head.

"No, I didn't see anything of the future. I didn't even see that incident on the baseball field but I've been getting a very good feeling these past days concerning today. Therefore, I will trust my instincts and say that whatever Hermione will bring to the family, it will be a good thing." Alice chirped in her usual cheery manner.

"Since you've all asked my opinion on this," Emmett began but he was interrupted by Alice, Rosalie, Jasper and Edward's simultaneous reply.

"We didn't." They all retorted.

"Yeah, whatever." Emmett replied with his usual mischievous grin. "I've already said it and I'll say it again. I vote for Hermione to stay. I want to be there to see how Edward's fiancé," Edward scowled at that reminder when Emmett winked at him, "will resist his seduction attempts to get more substantial answers and information."

The family laughed good-naturedly at that. Later, Emmett would just look at him seriously and make a scissor movement with his fingers and cry, "Chop Chop!" before letting out a large guffaw at his expense.

Carlisle decided that it would be more bothersome to leave Hermione now when they had already told Doctor Jennings that they would be looking after her. He also wanted to check her injuries and scars and see if he could not do anything for her. Following in Carlisle's wake, Esme agreed that it would look suspicious if after announcing that Edward's fiancé had been hurt that the Cullens would leave her in a hospital. They did not doubt that the news they'd made up would reach Forks in no time, the Cullens were very well known even in Seattle. So it was agreed that Hermione would stay with them until she would be able to see clearly.

The habits of the inhabitants of the Cullen house had changed drastically to accommodate their blind guest. Even though she was blind, Hermione said that she could easily go back and stay at the hospital for the rest of her convalescence. Her excuse was that she believed she'd already extended her stay and did not want to trespass any more than necessary on their hospitality. Something that Esme had of course quickly refuted.

Hermione had next argued, after she discovered that she was staying in Edward's room, to at least stay in a guest room but that was also quickly dismissed by his surrogate mother. It was not as if he needed the bed for sleep anyway. Hermione, however, at the quick dismissal of her request, had a secretive smile as though she was privy to a secret joke.

Edward had always been, as far as he remembered, an overly curious boy. And even if Hermione Granger had openly made her dislike of him known to his family as well as himself, he was still very curious about her. He stopped trying to read her mind as she would verbally lash out at him when she felt him trying to mentally poke around. She was such a fascinating human that had so many secrets that Edward wanted to discover. All those secrets only fuelled his curiosity of Hermione Granger.

The last person that had held Edward's attention, as long as Hermione had, had regretfully walked out of his life. Bella had been such a surprise in his century long existence. The fact that he could not hear one single thought of his singer was what had initially drawn Edward to her. He was the first person surprised when he'd realised that he'd fallen in love with the human whose blood he desired the most. He'd never expected something like that to happen to him but it did happen and although he was pained by her departure, he had no regrets. He'd finally understood the reasoning behind the saying. "It's better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all." He still believed though that the saying was somewhat silly.

Edward was fascinated by the 'creature' that was Hermione Granger. Even though, she was blind, Hermione was always hyper-aware of her surroundings. It was one of the things that put the Cullens on edge while they were near her. It was as if she knew when there was someone in the room even though, as vampires, the Cullens could be as silent as Death when needed. Unluckily for him, as curious and persistent as Edward could be, Hermione was an extremely stubborn and secretive girl.

It had been a week since she'd been invited to stay at his house and Edward had not been able to unearth as much of her secrets as he'd thought. She'd only given her complete name to Carlisle after Carlisle had insisted that her parents would most likely be anxious with worry. That argument was however taken more seriously by Hermione than what Carlisle had expected. As Jasper confirmed, she was instantly sad. She did however share with them her full name and address.

They thus learned that their guest was named Hermione Jean Granger. That she was from London and that she would turn nineteen on the nineteenth of next September. She did not elaborate any further. She stayed silent when Emmett had asked where she was going and how she travelled. She was a master at evasiveness. Emmett had even mentioned that she was much better at being evasive than he was. He had grudgingly agreed to that observation.

Hermione was however rather frustrated with her handicap. Carlisle had later placed a simple blindfold on her eyes to protect her from any excess damage from the bright lighting in his room. If her sight should come back gradually, the aggressive lighting could be potentially problematic for her.

"Couldn't you have hit me in the leg or something along the lines of that." She sighed when Edward entered his room the morning following her arrival and asked if she needed anything. "It's already such a bore to be bedridden but it's even more so now that I can't even read a book."

"I guess you like to read then." Edward said chuckling.

"Well, as shocking as it is, you guessed right." Hermione retorted. "As I'm in such a good mood right now, you can have another guess today, Edward!" She exclaimed.

There were so many questions that Edward wanted to ask her but he did not know if he would get another evasive answer. However, the question that came to his mind was asked before he could properly word it.

"Where are your parents, Hermione? And how come you don't want to contact them?" Edward asked her with a frown. It was one of the questions that had been bugging him since Esme had asked her if she wanted to call her parents. Hermione had politely declined but Jasper noted that she was saddened by her answer. There was something concerning her parents that Hermione did not want to talk about. And like anything concerning his guest, Edward was very curious about the reason behind that. Edward knew that his family, as occupied in various parts of the house as they were, were all listening in on their conversation.

"They are away. It is not that I don't want to call my parents but it's just because I can't do that right now." She said softly with her head bowed. "And I said that you could have a guess not two questions, Edward." She added frowning as though she only realised then that she'd answered his two questions.

"Why?" He simply asked not expecting her to answer.

"Because I sent them away," she whispered before lowering herself in the bed and pulling the covers over her. Before long, Edward heard the soft breathing indicating that she was asleep.

He heard his family discussing this new discovery but he did not join them. He was puzzled by her answer. _What had she done to send her parents away to someplace where she couldn't apparently contact them directly?_

When he was back later from hunting, he heard Emmett talking to her. Emmett was apparently entertaining her with jokes and pranks he'd done on his family. He was pleasantly surprised to hear her laughing at some rather lame jokes but it was a welcome change from the moody Hermione.

"_At least, she's got some humour unlike a certain bronze-haired brother of mine._" Edward heard Emmett thinking. How could his brother still be annoying after all these years.

He walked up to his room and found Hermione sitting, as usual, on his bed and Emmett sitting in a chair by the window nearest to the bed. Emmett smirked when he saw him at the door.

"I didn't realise it before and it surprises even me that I did not ask before but where am I, Emmett?" Hermione asked his brother turning in Emmett's direction.

"_She likes me more than you, Edward._" Emmett told him in a sing-song voice in a thought. "We're in the lovely but also very rainy city of Forks in Washington state." Emmett answered.

Hermione laughed in response. "Really, Forks! Whatever happened to Knives then?"

"I'm afraid it got cut off the map." Edward answered with a smile. "How are you feeling?" He asked her.

"You mean like right now, Edward? Completely useless and it's your entire fault, isn't it?" She growled in response.

_"Damn, she's still angry_." He turned to Emmett who was grinning at him by the window.

"_Isn't she sweet, Edward?_" Emmett thought with that stupid grin of his.

"Hermione," he sighed, "I really am sorry for what happened."

"I know you are, Edward, but it still won't make me see again quickly. And I can't lose any more time right now." The last part of her reply was whispered as if she was talking to herself but the vampires present in the house all heard her clearly. Hermione Granger was really a puzzle to Edward.

Thus, a full week after Hermione's arrival, Edward had only been able to discover that Hermione did not have any sibling. "_A blessing compared to me_," he thought. She was born in the city of Oxford but that her family moved to London a short time after. Her parents were both dentists and that she had french ancestry from her mother. That she had graduated recently from an exclusive boarding school found somewhere in Scotland. She however did not tell them the name of her school.

Emmett was having a lot of fun teasing Hermione whenever he could. He'd even asked her if she really would have proceeded with a castration on him. The British girl had huffed.

"It's not as though he had any use for his ding," she mumbled to herself but like always with the enhanced hearing, the vampires were able to pick it up.

Of couse, the teasing at his expense rose a few more levels after that last comment.

"Oh, Edward!" Rosalie added later. "We already knew that your love life was pathetic but for outsiders to our family to already be aware of that is just sad." She tutted with a large grin looking over the top of her magazine at him before disappearing behind it. He knew from the light shaking of the magazine that Rosalie was not reading it but silently laughing at him.

"Remind me why it is that I have enemies when I have annoying buggers like you all as brothers and sisters." Edward said in exasperation.

"I guess you were just that lucky, Edward." Alice said in a serious tone but the upward tick of her lips gave her away.

"Imagine living one hundred years without us in it. Your life would be as dull as your love life, Edward!" Emmett argued slapping him on the back.

"And we are not even talking about the inexistence of your sex-life!" His blonde brother added looking up at him from one of his numerous books dealing about the Civil War.

With his siblings ganging up on him, it would be evident to anyone who knew him that Edward really envied Hermione Granger's lack of siblings.

The last information that the British girl shared with his family only confirmed what they already feared. _She knew_.

For once, Hermione had been led to the kitchen to take her breakfast by a laughing Emmett. He could never be serious for long that one. Hermione had naturally stated that the hassle her presence caused them was reason enough to let her stay in a hospital and she'd pay for all expenses. That was again quickly dismissed by Esme.

Rosalie had reluctantly participated in their little charade, even though they weren't going to eat. Rosalie had herself become quite attached to Hermione even though she'd deny it vehemently if Edward wanted to call her on it.

"It really is not a bother. And, I wish that you'd stop questioning our hospitality, Hermione." Esme said with reproach.

"I'm really sorry if that sounded ungrateful. It's just," Hermione breathed, "that I don't like this situation."

"We know that! But sometimes you just have to accept that you'll have to lean on someone's shoulder, Hermione." Esme said wisely.

The British girl standing by Emmett just nodded her head in acceptance of his mother's words and remained silent as his brother walked her to one of the chairs in the kitchen. Esme placed a plate of the English breakfast that she'd cooked specially for her as she sat down.

"Now, eat my dear! I've cooked enough for second servings for everyone in the family." Esme instructed while the rest of the family silently groaned. Human food had never smelled appetizing to vampires.

"You really shouldn't have gone to these lengths," Hermione said and quickly continued before Esme intervened, "I am fully aware that this is a vampire coven. I understand however that you'd prefer to refer yourselves as a family and I fully admire this."

The family who had been in the process of sitting down to endure the meal had all stopped in their tracks. Carlisle's chair had toppled over as he stared at their guest and at his family.

"How?" Edward asked. He knew that she might have figured it out ever since he'd barged in uninvited in her mind. But he hoped that she would have been gone before that and would have forgotten them. He understood then that he had been much too optimistic.

"I just figured it out after I found you lurking around where you were not supposed to be, Edward." Hermione responded. "I'm well read and it would have been an insult to my intelligence if you thought that I would not have known."

"But where did you find books that contained information on vampires?" Carlisle asked her with surprising calm.

"The boarding school where I went to study happens to have a very extensive library with thorough information on a number of subjects. It is there that I read what I needed to know on vampires and how to recognize them." Hermione answered his father.

Edward's innate curiosity about all things Hermione-related was awakened but before he had time to question the mysterious girl any further, Esme said, "Never mind that now! Your breakfast is getting cold."

Edward wanted to protest but Esme's rare hard look surprised all of them and they stayed silent as Hermione ate her breakfast. Later after Hermione had finished eating and had been brought back in his room upstairs by himself, the family had gathered once again in the living and tried to understand what had happened.

"What kind of school would have that much information concerning vampires?" Jasper asked warily. Jasper was barely containing himself from exclaiming what he thought was a well-deserved; "I told you so."

"It doesn't matter where she got that information, we need to dispose of her!" Rosalie barked.

Even though Edward understood perfectly that Rosalie had his family's best interest, he hissed at her sister in defence of Hermione. "We won't do such a thing, Rosalie. Human life is much too precious to be overlooked as you're doing right now."

"Don't you think I know that, Edward? But for once, will you think of your family first before another fickle human? Is it that difficult for you to think of us first before you put us in more danger than what you've already done?" Rosalie all but screamed at him. "And don't you dare try to calm me Jasper," his sister added as she glared at their empathy brother who had been trying to use his ability to calm everyone present.

"Rosie," Emmett began but before he could continue, Rosalie shushed him one of her patented hard glares.

"No, Emmett! This needs to be said." Rosalie said before she again faced Edward. "What is so important about that girl, Edward? You've once been a ruthless killer. Why would the disappearance of an unknown British girl matter to you?"

"Rosalie! That is enough!" Carlisle said with finality stopping what could have turned very nasty between Rosalie and him.

Edward had however considered Rosalie's angry questions. Why did it matter to him that one mysterious girl, who could at any time blow their cover and who deeply disliked him, disappear? He did not know but it still mattered to him. Something about Hermione Granger might be important to his family and him but he did not know how or why. All Edward knew was that he needed to protect the strange, secretive girl at all costs. And if he needed to fight Rosalie for that, so be it.

Alice whom had stayed silent during all the exchange gasped and turned unfocused eyes on him. Edward knew what had happened. Alice was having a vision of the future because he'd made a decision. Of protecting Hermione Granger.

Edward focused his mind reading ability on Alice's vision. At first, the vision was fuzzy as though he was watching television with static interference and bad reception. He could not get a clear picture before it shifted into nothingness. He did however see images of a laughing Emmett, nothing new there. There were also images of a sobbing Hermione and of an astonished Angela Weber. He had a vision of a lone beach at night with Hermione and two older adults. He did not have enough time to distinguish any discerning features on the older couple. Then as though whatever was interfering in the reception had cleared, the vision grew sharper and he was able to see the future as though he was watching it on a high definition television.

He saw himself standing at the end of an alley under an arch decorated with flowers and ribbons. He was wearing a black tuxedo on a white shirt with a matching white bow tie and a white rose fitted on the right-side boutonnière. Emmett was standing next to him grinning like he'd seen him grin before. Carlisle and Jasper also stood near them. Before he had time to watch other people in the vision, something at the back caught Edward's attention and he saw himself smile with such joy that he felt happy for himself. He saw the back of a petite woman in a white wedding dress. Her brown hair was held in a stylish hairdo under a white lace veil. He'd leave it to Alice to describe the dress but from what he saw, the wedding dress was simply beautiful. The tall man next to whom he knew was going to be his wife had curly salt and pepper hair. He saw himself giving a blinding smile at the bride-to-be as Emmett patted his back in a rare display of affection towards him. The vision faded on himself walking towards his future wife with his hand extended and of a small gloved hand lifting to meet his.

He thought that it was the end of Alice's vision as he only saw darkness but again, the image cleared and he found himself standing in the living room of what appeared to be a very stylish beach-house. He knew that place; he'd seen pictures of it in some albums around here. It was Isla Esme. He stood still with some suitcases at his feet as he stared in the direction of an open window. As Edward turned to look in the same direction, he saw his future wife standing on the open balcony gazing at the sea outside. The wedding ring that was worn on the ring finger of the young woman gave it away. He glanced at himself and saw the matching ring on his own finger.

He turned again to look at his wife. Her brown curls flowed gently around her blown by the gentle sea breeze. She was wearing a white sundress with a small blue bow at the back. Like her hair, the dress flowed languidly in the breeze but it still fitted perfectly on the slim figure of the woman. In the blink of an eye, in other words, at vampire speed, Edward was standing behind the young woman and he saw himself slightly bow his head into the luscious curls of the woman taking in her scent.

Whatever had crossed Edward's mind seemed to trouble him as he watched a conflict appear on his own face. He looked like he really doubted what he was going to do but Edward saw himself slowly lean towards the young woman and opening his arms to wrap them around her slim waist. The slight tensing of the woman told him that the action might not have been as welcomed as he thought but eventually, she relaxed in his arms and even snuggled closer to his body.

As if it was the signal for something, Edward saw himself slowly lift the woman into his arms and carry her bridal-style into the living room. That was when he saw the face of his wife; it was Hermione. He had married Hermione Jean Granger. Hermione was staring into Edward's eyes as he carried her around the living room and towards dark-tainted double doors. He latched onto Hermione's expression as she was carried around. He saw something that sounded to him as affection with a hint of something much bigger that he was not able to decipher. Edward also never broke eye-contact with Hermione as he walked to the doors. In his own eyes, he saw love and lust. As Edward opened the doors holding Hermione with one arm, he was able to see before the doors closed behind the pair a large king-sized bed with white covers. That vision also faded to darkness.

Before he was able to break the connection between himself and Alice, Edward saw another vision appearing. There was a blue-painted door that stood in the middle of a white façade with sculpted cornices. Then he found himself sitting in front of his piano by a large bay-window overlooking a large back yard. He was slowly playing an unknown tune that Edward found beautiful. A little girl of around five or six years rushed into the room and bounced happily in front of him.

Edward stopped playing the piano and bent down to pick the little girl into his arms before placing a large loving kiss on her pink cheeks. He saw that she had green eyes with some golden flecks that might be due to the light or something. She was a cute little girl with long brownish-red curls and she squealed laughing as she was kissed. He lifted himself from the piano bench and carried the little girl to a large white couch. He sat down and placed the little girl down next to him on the couch.

It was only then that Edward could see that the Edward in Alice's vision was different from what he was now. He knew it was him but he had changed. He looked like he had surprisingly … aged. He looked like he was then in his mid-twenties in difference to being eternally frozen in his seventeen year old body as a vampire. What was more shocking was that the Edward in the vision did not even appear to be a vampire any more. No more did he see the unnatural pallor that was a characteristic of his species. He seemed to have spent some long hours in the sun as he had a slight tan and flushed cheeks. To add to his confusion, Edward saw the little girl giggle as she scratched the slight stubble that appeared on him on that vision. For all he knew, his face was currently hairless and that had not changed for the somewhat last hundred years that had passed with him being a vampire.

Before he had time to delve any further on the mystery of his changed appearance, a small boy charged into the room. He was smaller than the girl both in height and age. He was about three years old. He had a mop of unmanageable bronze hair just like him. And the little boy jumped into his lap while he wrapped his arms around him laughing. A larger shadow appeared at the door and the figure moved into the light. It was Hermione. An unmistakably pregnant Hermione.

She was smiling at them as she walked slowly towards the trio on the couch. Edward saw himself lift the little boy off his lap and gently let him sit by his side. He stood and walked to Hermione and laid a very tender kiss on her forehead before lifting her head towards him and claiming her lips. It was a short kiss but he knew it was one kiss that spoke of never-ending love. That small scene spoke so much of love that Edward felt himself yearn for that moment. The little boy let out a disgusted, "Yucky!" and Hermione and Edward broke out laughing looking at the little boy.

He slowly led Hermione to the couch and waited for her to be comfortably seated before he lowered himself next to her. Hermione's head automatically nested on his shoulder as he cradled her in his arm. They stayed silent for a long time like that playing their hands into the hairs of the children next to them. The little duo had busied themselves with some toys that they'd picked up on a side-table.

"How are you feeling, Angel?" He asked as he lovingly caressed the swell of Hermione's stomach.

"I'm so tired but at least it won't be much too long now." Hermione said with her eyes closed. One of her hands left the little girl's hair and joined his on her stomach. "The twins are sleeping for now and I'll have to run a bath for those two before we put them to bed."

"Don't worry. I'll do that while you take your rest. I'll watch over the twins while you take a nap." He softly murmured into her hair. "When this little one is finally out, I promise that I'll stay around for anything that you'll need and do everything that needs to be done around here."

"That's what you're already doing, Edward." Hermione said finally looking up into his loving eyes.

"And that's what I've promised you, remember? I vowed that I would take care of you and make sure that you're happy with me. And I'm not intending to break that vow, Hermione!" He told her in earnest before kissing her again on the lips.

They heard a doorbell ring and the sound of a door opening somewhere. Then, Edward heard an unknown voice ask for Hermione and for himself. Hermione answered that they were in the family room. After a few seconds, the door opened and the vision faded as he saw a pale hand appear. Before he knew what happened, Edward found himself again sitting in the living room of the Cullen household with his parents and siblings around him waiting for Alice and him to share the vision with them.

Edward stayed silent as Alice recounted the whole vision sequence accurately. He contemplated everything that he'd seen and when he finished he lifted his head to stare at his bedroom door. Behind that door, he knew that Hermione was sleeping as he heard the usual soft sounds she did when she slept. When Alice had finished telling the story, every member of his family turned to him. They all wanted to hear him confirm that Alice was telling them the truth. He only nodded in response.

Carlisle only managed to utter a single word in return, "How?"

"I don't know, Carlisle! And Hermione was pregnant and expecting their third child." Alice answered for him.

"She was expecting our fifth. She said that the twins were sleeping!" Edward corrected automatically.

"The fifth?" Rosalie asked her eyes wide as she stared at him. He again only nodded in response.

Emmett turned his eyes on him and a huge smile lit up his face as he boomed, "Wow, Edward! You don't waste time, do you? Probably catching up on your hundred years of celibacy!"

"Emmett!" Esme scolded but she too had a large smile.

"Sorry, mum!" Emmett apologised. "But at least we know that our darling little Eddie doesn't shoot blanks, huh?" Emmett added as an afterthought before breaking into laughter.

Edward just stared at his brother and family as they laughed before his head swivelled in direction of his bedroom where he heard Hermione grumbling into her sleep that they were being loud. As he sat silently contemplating the implications of Alice's visions of his future while his family laughed at his expense, Edward could not help but ask him himself.

"_Can this really happen? This_ _possible impossibility or is it just an impossible possibility?_"

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**Author Note:**

It's been a long time but I'm finally satisfied with the result. It's far from perfect but at least it sounds as correct as I envisioned the chapter to be. So, now that you know what's different in my story, what do you think?

I had planned on having Hermione's secret out later. I wanted to make the Cullens know that there might be more people than they thought that were aware of the existence of vampires.

As per my chapter plan, the next chapter should contain Hermione's secret being spilled but I'm going to let the pressure build a bit more. Even though they'll know that Hermione is important for Edward, they'll still be on edge around her.

As always, I wish to end this chapter by saying that the response to this story is above my highest expectations. I take this opportunity to thank everyone that have reviewed (all reviews have been answered), listed it as one of their favourites or put a story alert for it.

**Cheers to all the reviewers:** Starscream's Prime, TheBlackSeaReaper, CosmoGirl666, TsukiyoTenshi, NorthernLights25, Hateme101, Crocadile1986, Ariah23, Nikki-4, Harry Potter Expert-Slytherin, Banana Flavored Eskimo, Azera-v, Desi-Pari Always, IfLooksCouldKill13, TeamJazzy2571, Mekom, Liani, Waterflower20, Huge-issues, Sadsterr77, City Bookworm, LuvsReadingForever, Dragonfly1339, Fanfictionfan9503, Megan Consoer, Zelma Kallas, DarkFairy8605.  
I'll be answering your reviews later by private message so don't forget to check the inbox. Those of you who have disabled the private messaging will see their reviews answered here later. Sorry but time is short.  
**  
**Cheers again go to every reader of this story. Take care,

Ludo


	6. A Surprising Truth

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

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**A Surprising Truth**

Edward walked into his room a little later feeling very much dejected and disappointed. Carlisle had remained silent the whole time as Alice and he shared the details of Alice's visions. But after listening to everyone talk and discuss the possible implications of this future with Hermione, Carlisle had sadly popped the small bubble of hope that had grown in Edward's dead heart. Edward knew that Carlisle felt sincerely sorry for it as he heard the thought in his father's mind before he voiced it out.

"I am very sorry for saying this but that is impossible. Even though I know, Alice, that your visions are accurate and based on decisions taken, what you saw as Edward's future is impossible." He raised a hand as he saw Alice want to argue. "There is sadly no known cure to vampirism. I would have known or heard of that through my long research or my stay with the Volturi." Carlisle added, "Not to mention my four-century time spent as a vampire. If the Volturi had heard of such a cure, you can be assured that whoever had this cure would either have been rapidly disposed of and the secret would have disappeared along with him. Never during my stay in Volterra did I hear a word pertaining to a similar content."

Carlisle had turned to him and mentally added, "_I am truly sorry, Edward._"

Edward nodded in response with a sad smile directed at his father as he absorbed this piece of information.

"Also, I don't think that this future is plausible." Carlisle said to the family at large.

"But Carlisle I saw it, we were all in that vision. My visions can't turn decisions that are made today into fantastic fantasies." Alice reminded.

Alice had always relied on her abilities to ensure that the family's safety was assured. Edward knew that if she thought that her visions were failing her that she would feel useless in the family despite her other vampire abilities.

"That's not what I'm saying, Alice." Carlisle said. "It just that –"

Edward heard the thought in Carlisle's mind and he heard it he realised that Carlisle was right. Alice's visions could never come to fruition as there was already another future that had been decided and shared before.

"Because of Bella." Edward voiced Carlisle's thought to the family.

His family's reaction to his words was instantaneous. Rosalie scowled at the reminder of the human girl that had captured his brother's heart before she decided to crush it completely, be it a living or dead heart. Rosalie had always been fiercely protective of their family and despite the ill feelings she had towards him, she still cared for Edward.

Alice was shocked that she forgot that vision of his future. She knew that they, the Cullens, still had an obligation to fulfil if they did not want the Volturi to tear apart their family. And the Volturi never forget. They surely, and most importantly Aro, weren't going to forget that Alice's vision of Bella's future was that of a graceful and beautiful vampire. She would be turned into a soulless monster like him because of his mistake. Or they would order her execution. Then, they would no doubt exact their revenge on his family and Edward as well as Alice would be forced to join the Volturi guard in exchange for the rest of their family to continue to exist.

"_How could I have forgotten that?_" Edward thought as he cradled his head in his hands and let out a long sigh. He was sometimes so tired of being a vampire and that was the main reason that he'd latched on the possibility of being human again with Hermione. He had already forgotten Bella and as he gazed at Hermione lying languidly on his bed, he could not help but ask himself what was so special about the strange girl that made him forget his obligations.

He walked up to the bedside and leaned down to gaze at her face. He did not dare to breathe in fear of waking her up and have her accusing him of invading her private space again although she would again be properly justified. He remembered that when he first saw her, he had thought her to be a very beautiful girl. As he gazed at her face, he concluded that his first assessment of her had not changed. She was a beautiful young woman. She was not outrageously beautiful like Rosalie but a subdued natural beauty. She had that special glow that Edward attributed only to confident people that possessed natural charisma and attracted attention unwillingly. The kind that could walk into a crowded room and have the unwavering attention of the crowd whatever they did.

He admired her flawless, soft, pale skin. He then remembered that her skin was not as flawless as he had first thought. He could now see that she had faint marks on her face and he lowered his eyes to that thin, long line along her throat. He had unconciously moved his hand and would have lightly traced that mark with one of his fingers when he reminded himself that he couldn't allow himself to. She would wake up immediately and would probably accuse him of many sins. Not that he did not deserve it.

His eyes strayed on her gorgeously pink, full lips that were slightly parted as though in anticipation of a kiss from her Prince Charming. But Edward Cullen was no Prince Charming and his life was most undeniably not a fairytale. He would probably have the role of the monster in any fairytale. The character that had too many flaws to endear himself enough to the female protagonist and opportunity to be loved because of those same flaws.

Hermione stirred in her sleep and Edward quickly retreated from the bedside in fear again of her waking but as she settled again on the bed, he approached the bed. His eyes found a mark on her left forearm that he had not seen yet on Hermione before. Except, it was not a mark but a word that looked like it had been crudely carved onto her skin. _Mudblood_. That was what he read. He did not know the meaning of the word and although he still did not know Hermione Granger as well as he wanted to, he doubted that the girl could be mentally unstable to carve those words into her own forearm.

So, Edward could only conclude that someone, a very sick someone, had done that to Hermione. At the thought of someone voluntarily hurting Hermione, Edward felt red, hot, raw anger surge through him and consume his mind. He could not believe that Hermione had undergone such a sick treatment. He did not know what it was but he knew it was sickening that someone could inflict this kind of treatment on his Hermione. It was … it was –

"It is torture," Jasper supplied as he appeared next to him. "She was tortured, Edward."

He knew that Jasper was checking on him when he sensed his anger through his ability.

"But for what reasons, Jasper?" Edward asked his empath brother.

"I don't know and don't think Hermione would be sharing that story soon." Jasper added as he turned to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You have conflicting feelings right now but I know and feel that deep down," here Jasper pointed at his un-beating heart, "you already know what you feel for our mysterious guest."

In a flash, Jasper was out of the room and joined Alice in their room. _What did he feel for Hermione? Why did he feel so possessive of her that he had immediately decided to have her stay in his room? Why did he desperately want to know all of Hermione's secrets? Did he have a right to feel so protective of her when he barely knew her?_

All these questions rushed to the forefront of his mind as he watched the petite girl. He reviewed the vision of their 'impossible' wedding and watched his expression as she walked down the aisle. He could not deny that he looked blindingly and very much in – love with Hermione. _Could he really be in love with her?_ _And could she be in love with him, when she was barely civil to him right now?_ _When would this wedding be held anyway?_

Before he even voiced the question aloud for his seer of sister to hear, she answered that it should have been held on the twenty-third of September of the same year. "Great, now I'll be known eternally as the vampire with two failed weddings even before their time." He muttered sarcastically causing Emmett's booming laughter to sound from somewhere downstairs where he was watching his favourite television shows.

If the vision of their future was false; he was not cured of his vampirism and they never had four to five children. Hermione and his 'future self' seemed to be very much in love. He could not deny the longing he felt when he watched himself lay a tender kiss on Hermione's forehead before capturing her lips. And that vision of the honeymoon? He'd seen the look on his face as he carried Hermione to the bedroom. Pure love and intense lust for Hermione. And in Hermione's eyes , he now recognised what he had first thought to be affection but that was love that shone brightly in her brown orbs as well as want. Raw and powerful want. Of him.

The twenty-third of September was in less than three months' time and so if Hermione had accepted to marry him in this 'hypothetical' wedding, he had to have asked for her hand a few days in the future. And again before Edward could ask his question, Alice answered that he would have formally proposes to Hermione on the twenty-third of June. In twelve days' time.

Alice had simply walked into his room and whisper-answered his future questions in rapid succession.

"Yes, I see that this wedding is still being held. No, it's only the future based on your decision that I'm seeing. Yes, I still can't see anything of Hermione's future. Yes, my vision of Bella has changed but she's still a vampire in this and she's alone." Alice looked up to him as he sighed again and went to the nearest large windows of his room.

"I don't understand anything right now and it's frustrating me. How come Bella is still going to be a vampire when I've already decided that I want Hermione in my life now? What about the rest of the family, Alice? You were all present at the wedding but what about after? How do I know if the Volturi don't come after us later?" He murmured. All these questions were driving him nuts.

"Edward, all of these questions shall be answered in due time. If you really want to follow on your decision, you might want to keep in memory that Hermione will say yes to your proposal, only if you stop pestering her with your incessant questions." Alice reminded.

Edward really did not know what he was going to do but as he turned to look at pixie-like sister, with a long passing glance on Hermione, he knew that he would not change his decision. He realized as he took in everything that had passed since the fourth of July that he wasn't going to let Hermione Granger walk out of his life. He would not lose her like Bella. He would fight for her and would follow her to the end of the world if he had to.

He almost stumbled as he finally understood why he felt so strongly for Hermione ever since he first laid his eyes on her. He fell in love with her hard. Despite her mysteries and her evident dislike of him, he loved her at first sight. And he never believed in love at first sight. It was this simple truth that surprised him and he turned wide eyes on Alice.

His sister's eyes comically widened to the size of saucers as she saw the vision of Edward announcing his new found realization to the family. "_But what about Bella, Edward?_" Alice thought as she looked out the window onto the forest below.

"I really don't know right now but if she ever comes back, we'll talk about it then. For now, let's get this new family talk going." Edward said with a shrug as the both of them slowly made their way to the living room where some members of their family were already gathering after overhearing that there another family talk was to be held.

A little while later, after Alice had quickly dropped the bombshell, Edward found himself the centre of one of the strangest conversations he ever had. His siblings were giving him pointers on how to seduce Hermione Granger properly. In other words, they were simply criticizing the way he'd seduced Bella Swan.

"I hope you'll at least change your seduction strategies." Rosalie remarked dryly. Oddly, he found that Rosalie was his staunchest support of a relationship with Hermione. Even if Carlisle had dismissed Alice vision of his later future with Hermione, Rosalie was surprisingly more optimist about the outcome of his future than the rest of his family. Including him.

"What do you mean?" Edward asked.

"You know the usual staring –" Jasper answered.

"The annoying stalking –" Alice continued.

"The creepy watching her sleep –" Emmett added with a shrug.

"And the endless refrain of 'I'm a soulless monster. Don't come near me!' It does get old after a few decades in your company," Rosalie quipped. "You must remember that Hermione is not Bella and she won't take that shit for anything romantic."

"I must be really desperate if I am going to listen to your advice." Edward noted.

So, as he sat in the living room listening to his siblings' ramblings, Edward could not help but smile at the prospect of being happy again and Edward did not doubt that he would be very happy with Hermione next to him. 

* * *

**Author note:  
**

I know. It is a short chapter but this is just a filler one before we move on to better things.

I've noticed incoherencies due to my ignorance of the Twilight series' timeline and these needs to be corrected. Please note that this story will be following parallel canon.

Following Harry Potter's Wikia, The Skirmish at the Malfoy Manor happened in late March of 1998. The break into Gringotts Wizarding Bank was on the first of May and the Battle of Hogwarts the following day.

According to the Twilight Lexicon, Edward asked for Bella's hand in 2006 on June the thirteenth and the battle with the new-borns on June the fifteenth. That was also the day that Bella went to check on an injured Jacob and said goodbye to him for good. Still according to the Twilight Lexicon, Bella and Edward were married on thirteenth of August of the same year. Hasty isn't?

My story starts on the fourth of July and as I'll have to move one timeline around, it will be the Harry Potter timeline that wouldbe jumping forward in time. Eight years to be exact. So instead of saying goodbye to Jacob again as per the Twilight Lexicon on the fifteenth June, Bella was unable to make a choice between Edward and Jacob and called off the wedding before leaving. Hermione revealed that she knew the Cullens were vampires on the eleventh July.

If I had to choose for a potential date for a wedding between Hermione and Edward, I would aim for the following Autumnal equinox which in 2006 was on the twenty-third of September (I proudly researched that one). And if I want to keep a certain coherency in the story (and my parallel alternate canon), Edward will formally ask Hermione to marry him two month before the wedding date, that is on the twenty-third. Still following me?

I know that this little rant of mine and my babbling about timeline coherency might be confusing you but trust me, it will be important later.

**Next chapter title: **_A Meddling Sister  
_  
As always, I wish to end this chapter by saying that the response to this story is above my highest expectations. I take this opportunity to thank everyone that have reviewed (all reviews have been answered), listed it as one of their favourites or put a story alert for it.

**Thanks to all reviewers:**TsukiyoTenshi, Dragonfly1339, Starscream's Prime, Arabellagrace, Lostfeather1, Hateme101, NorthernLights25, Desi-Pari Always, XXXSilverFangXXX, Mrs. Regulus Arcturus Black, Nikki-4, TeamJazzy2571, CosmoGirl666, AriesPrincess-Slyffindor, Painelust, Bethanxo, Sharris, IberisGalloway, ShiningxXxShadowxXxThief, Blue-Eyed-Dragon23, Waterflor20, DarkFairy8605, Mekom, Amata0221, JadeObsession, Anariel Phoenix Blade, Tearainy, Deadspace6868, SunriseWILLcome, Megan Consoer and Elaine (the answer is below).

* * *

**Author note bis:**

Dear Readers,

It has come to my attention that has recently begun to start removing fics from the site that they deem too graphic or inappropriate. I consider this to be quite arbitrary considering I've been reading on this site for a long time. Even before I registered an account.

Needless to say, that even though I consider that some of my stories are too racy, I have still been using the appropriate rating for the stories. So if you see that it is rated M, you should know that it is for a very good reason.

I won't be retiring completely from this site but as a back-up solution, I'll be posting my stories on another fanfiction archive. This is very regrettable but if FF does not give any viable solutions like some more tenuous filters and higher ratings, that is the only plausible alternative for now.

With this being said, please check me out on The Writer's Coffee Shop under the same author name. This fanfiction archive is not very heavily moderated like Granger Enchanted, The Petulant Poetess, Sycophant Hex and others. You'll also be able to view the banners that talented artists have created for my stories. That's a big plus.

By the way, there is a petition going around on Change . Org. You'll just have to type in fanfiction in the search bar and do what is necessary. Hopefully, FF will understand that we won't let this go without a fight.

Also, I'm happy to announce that I've found myself a new beta; AuntieL. She'll be reviewing my work on a Second Chance on which I'll be working this week and hopefully on my later works. I'll also be turning my most recent fanfiction into a multi-chaptered story (check my profile for my other stories).

Please note that I will not stop posting on FF but I'll only be posting in parallel on The Writer's Coffee Shop until further notice.

Thank you for your attention and take care.

Have a great day or night wherever you are and whenever you're reading this and love to all,

**Ludo**


	7. A Profitable Day

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

* * *

**A Profitable Day**

Hermione Granger knew that she could have easily left behind the very odd Cullen family; a vampire family. Despite her temporary handicap, she had enough faith in her abilities to know that it would only take her not more than one minute to tail it out of what could be a potentially disastrous situation.

She just needed to take her wand out of her small beaded bag and she'd be able to Apparate herself back to England. She'd then proceed to St. Mungo's to get her eyes checked and she would be able to go back to her temporarily suspended mission; that of locating and removing the memory charm that she placed on her parents. She had to go to Australia and locate her parents who, unbeknownst to them, currently went by the fake name of Wendell and Monica Wilkins. That was currently impossible because of Edward Cullen and his strange baseball practices.

Strangely, it was mostly because of the same Edward Cullen that Hermione had not left the vampires' house. Because Edward Cullen had awoken her innate curiosity with his little stunt in his mind. She'd often said that Harry had the most curious mind of their group of friends. His curiosity would always end up getting him in danger. Then Hermione and Ron would be dragged alongside him into one of his lifesaving or life threatening daring endeavours.

Don't get her wrong. Hermione valued her friendship with Harry and Ron above everything. But it wouldn't it have been nice once in a while to have a school year where she would not find herself in mortal peril. If Molly Weasley's clock had a clock to show her name, would it have each year's end shown her in a mortal peril situation? She could only guess.

Edward's ability had sparked the demon of curiosity within her. Never had she heard of vampires having such special abilities and Edward's ability was the most unusual of all. He was the reason why she was stuck there in the first place and he was also the primary reason why she had not already popped back to England. She was curious of him and of his life. Also, it amused her very much that Edward tried various ways to make her talk and share her secrets. The way she interacted with him always managed to put him on edge and it never failed to amuse her as well as the rest of his family.

But after the last night, the night she told the family that she knew they were vampires, she felt that something had changed. Where Edward had been strictly limiting himself near her only approaching her when necessary, he had radically changed attitude towards her. Ever since she'd woken up this morning, he'd been looking after her and it was getting slightly stifling.

The problem with her current situation was that she depended on virtual strangers for almost anything. Hermione had always prided herself of being an independent young woman and depending on strangers, vampires no less, was grating on her nerves. Her food, her clothes were taken care of by Esme and Alice Cullen most of the times while Rosalie would more often than any of the other member of the vampire family escort her to the bathroom when she needed to, mostly in the morning and evening for her routines. Edward had mostly stayed out of her way because he knew it put her in a foul mood because she was not able to those things herself.

But, that had not been the case since the beginning of the day. He was the one that took her to the bathroom for her morning routines. He led her to the washbasin and placed the toothbrush, which she had been provided by the Cullens, into her right hand with sufficient paste on it. He waited by her side while she brushed her teeth. Hermione, being the daughter of two rather strict dentists, had since childhood taken great care of her teeth and thus her dental hygiene was the first thing she did every morning.

If brushing her teeth had been awkward, it was nothing compared to when Edward asked her if she needed to use the loo. When she'd told him it wasn't necessary, what had been already been a weird situation took a turn for the worse when Edward led her to the shower cubicle. She was told that he had, under Alice's advice, chosen her clothes for the day and that included her underwear. She was grateful for the shower for she was unable to decide whether the cold shower was either cooling down her mortification or her rising temper.

She did not need to be treated like this. The shower did give her however time to think on Edward's stranger than usual behaviour. She'd had to ask him if vampires suffered from personality disorders because by his behaviour, Edward would probably be a case study for those plagued with a split, if not, a multiple personality disorder. It was even more awkward when she finished her shower as Edward passed her a towel over the glass door of the shower cubicle.

After she towelled herself dry, she accepted the bathrobe Edward passed her again over the glass door and carefully walked out to a waiting Edward.

"Your hair is still wet," the vampire said as he stood in front of her.

He grabbed another towel before he carefully took care of the nest that was her hair. Hermione thought it was a rather intimate gesture that one normally expects from someone with whom you had a close relationship. It was something that parents normally did for their child after their bath or shower. It was also expected of an intimate partner but she did not expect something like that from Edward.

Her heartbeat sped up as she felt his ice-cold touch on her scalp as he took care of the wet strands of hair. Being so near to him, she understood what books referred to when they talked of the lure of vampires. She could pick up the unnatural sweet smell that was characteristic of vampires from where she stood. It was made to be hypnotic or addictive and attract the vampire's prey so that their natural sense of preservation was stifled. _What was he playing at? Was he trying to lure her in because he wanted a bite of her?_

When the task he'd assigned himself was done, he silently guided her back to the bedroom and sat her on the bed. "Your clothes are on the bed next to you. I'll leave you to get dressed and you can call me when you're finished so you can get down for breakfast." He told her calmly.

"Edward … why are you doing this?" she asked him when she sensed him walking away from her.

"Because …," he began. "Because I need to know if something was possible." He replied.

"What do you need to know?" she asked him in return.

"It's just something what I wanted to know." He cryptically said in reply. "You should get dressed."

She would have questioned further but the sound of the door closing told her that she would not be getting a sufficiently adequate reply from him. She just wished she could burn his sparkly arse with a well-aimed hex. She sighed before she did as she was told. She really did not like it that the vamps were providing her with new clothes but there was nothing much she could do about it. She was not going to complain about their hospitality but it still unnerved her that these strangers would go to such lengths to ease her stay.

Edward came back a short moment later and found her still sitting. She had already put on the clothes and had stayed silent to think of what she should do if things got too uncomfortable between Edward and her. When half of her delightful breakfast that Esme Cullen had prepared for her was eaten, Emmett had cheerfully informed her that they would be going out for some shopping. She sighed dejectedly as she thought that it was useless to have her go shopping when she was unable to see what she would be buying but apparently the mischievous vampire did not care.

That was why, an hour later, Hermione found herself sitting next to Edward in Emmett's jeep. _What was it with vampires and speed?_ Even though she was currently blind, she still knew that they were going at a speed much above the speeding limit despite not knowing what the current speed limit was. The drive would have been silent if had not been filled with Emmett and Alice's incessant chatter. Those two were incredible chatterboxes. Rosalie and Jasper were following them closely in another car.

Shopping, other than book shopping, had never been one of her favourite activities and shopping with the Cullens was even more boring as she was not even able to see what was being bought. She understood that it was probably a subtle communication exercise by the Cullens to show the local population, the 'lucky' girl that was engaged to Edward Cullen but it was rather uncomfortable. She felt the brunt of the stares of the shoppers as Edward stood next to her while Emmett was gleefully parading her around with his arm draped on her shoulder. All things considered, Hermione did not think she had been particularly lucky in having the vampires' attention. If she wanted to give a crude opinion on the matter she would probably say that the "L" in her luck had been replaced with an "F". That was why Hermione was positive that the Cullen 'kids' were insane.

Somewhere during their 'casual' strolling around the shopping mall, she heard Alice gasp in front of her and she would have nearly crashed with the back of the vampire if Emmett had not steered her into another direction. Despite asking what was wrong, she did not get any answer from the vampires other than Edward telling her to wait for them.

He remembered overhearing a conversation between Hermione and Carlisle a few days before on the same subject. He'd been out hunting and had just come home to find that Carlisle, who had just returned from his day shift, was doing a check-up on Hermione.

"Carlisle, can I ask you a question?" Hermione asked shyly while his 'father' examined her eye-sight.

Only when Carlisle was satisfied with what he'd seen did he respond invitingly. "Yes, of course."

"Do you regret your decision of turning Edward? Do you sometimes feel that he was too young for the life that you gave him?" Hermione asked while a bandage was again wrapped around her head.

Carlisle knew that Edward was watching them from the door as he turned to look at him. He answered Hermione's question while he looked at him directing the response to Edward. "Even though I know sometimes Edward thinks that I regret what I've done, Hermione, I have no regrets." Edward did not need to read Carlisle's mind to know that his words were sincere and the honest truth.

"I only regretted my decision once. It was immediately after I bit Edward as I watch him writhe around under the tremendous pain brought upon by the change. I realised that I was damning someone to the same accursed imitation of life that I was living. But once Edward was changed and that he needed guidance into the existence of a vampire, I realised that as pathetic as it sounded, I've granted myself the role of a father. I'd be a father who would guide his child through life and teach him the wrongs and rights of the life as a vampire. I've never realised how much I craved something as normal as a family life but when that happened, I gladly slipped into the role of a father to Edward."

"I knew that my unnatural, to vampires, way of subsistence would more than likely be a problem and it did. Edward, at one point in time," Edward lowered his eyes in shame of his past actions, "rebelled and left me. I felt as if I've failed my role as a father when Edward said that animal blood was not enough for him and he did not value human life as much as I taught him. I felt guilty because I knew that Edward was doing horrendous acts but he was my son and loved him all the same.

"I was happy when he came back to me a few years later. I know that he felt even more soulless than ever. Edward finally understood that it cost more than anything to take a human's life even if it was for sustaining yourself. Being able to prevent yourself from drawing blood from a human and not killing one is what I believe keeps us from turning into the full monsters that vampires have been made to be. If protecting life can at least redeem us from our very nature, then it's one positive act that Edward will have learned." Carlisle finished.

"Thank you, Carlisle, for your answer." Hermione said in earnest before she got lost in thought and Edward once again wondered what thoughts the strange British girl was hiding from him.

Carlisle left the room quickly but not before whispering to him, "I love you, my son," as he passed him.

"I know and I thank you for that, father." Edward answered in a soft whisper.

Edward knew that he could never find it in himself to hate Carlisle for granting his dying mother her last wish. He knew that Carlisle had been very lonely after he left the Volturi and Europe behind. Carlisle had not realised how much he missed company until he had to look after him and help him adjust to the existence of a vampire and his chosen way of subsistence. Having been turned into a mind-reader, he was able to pick up the proud thoughts of Carlisle when he had initially showed very strong resistance to human blood. When he rebelled and went his way, he did not miss the disappointment and heartbreak that instantly filled Carlisle's mind when he told him that their way of life was not enough for him.

It tore a piece of his dead heart when Carlisle had said before he left, "I am sorry, Edward. But if that's what you want, I understand. Know however that you'll always be welcomed back because you are my son. You are my first child."

So, if the remote possibility of becoming once again a human was to be granted, Edward would not let it slip him and that meant that he had to make Hermione fall for him. He did not really know why he took over taking care of her from his 'mother' and 'sisters' but like he'd told Hermione when she asked him, he gave her as much of an honest answer that he could provide. He reasoned that if Alice's vision of his future with Hermione was partially or totally true, he had to try looking after his hypothetical future 'wife'. He had to admit that he'd been more shaken by this vision of this possible future with the strange girl than with Bella's.

Other than the possibility of becoming a father, it was mostly the possibility of him becoming a human again that intrigued him the most. Even though Carlisle had told him that if was impossible for a vampire to change back to a human, he would not deny himself the chance if was even remotely possible. He'd spent almost a century hating the monster into which he'd been turned. Before Bella stumbled into the picture, he'd been despising his very existence as a vampire.

Edward knew that it was very possible that Hermione would not want to stay around him once she regained her sight but in his own twisted way, he wanted to make her stay for him. He wanted to see if he could feel and make her feel at the same time a part of the love that he'd witnessed in the vision. He needed to make Hermione understand that she would forever be safe with him. He would make sure that whoever had caused her harm would never be able to repeat his act of violence against her.

He had not forgotten Bella. He might not just ever. But every time that Bella crossed his mind, Edward found himself comparing his two possible futures with Hermione and Bella. While one girl's life was clouded with a lot of mysteries and secrets, the other's mind was also shielded from him and his ability. Thus, Bella had been enraptured by him because he'd purposefully and despite his family's, mostly Rosalie, reservations gotten close to her. There was no doubt in him that his love for Bella had been genuine. How would he be able to explain the longing he felt when he left Forks with his family or the heartbreak after she in turn left him. There was still a part of him that yearned to see her again run back to him and tell him, that they were forever meant for each other.

But, how could he explain the fact that another part of him wanted that future with the unknown Hermione. She was the girl who hated his sparkly butt and she would definitively walk away from him without looking back. And that was the root of the problem. Hermione Granger had no reason, other than her temporary handicap, to stay with the Cullens. She had no obligations to stay with them but she still stayed. It was up to Edward to make her want to stay. He needed to make her want to stay for him. And Edward still had no idea how.

When Emmett came up with his 'brilliant' idea of taking Hermione, he decided to just go with it as he had nothing better. So he found himself strolling in the Port Angeles main shopping mall with Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, Jasper and his 'fiancée' Hermione while the thoughts of the shoppers ran through his head. He sighed internally at the inane quality of these unknown faces thoughts. They were always the same centred always on the same issues.

That was why he wanted desperately to read Hermione's mind. He'd caught some random thoughts since the first time he'd been able to hear and even visualize himself in her thoughts. But none made much sense. It was always centred on who he had now identified as Hermione's parents but each time her mind closed automatically to his intrusions. Maybe he could help her find her parents but first, he'd have to gain her trust. Something told him that this might be one of the keys to Hermione's heart; she needed to know that he cared for the people she cared for and that he cared for her. But how would he be able to help her if she did not trust him enough to confide in him.

When he heard Alice gasping in front of him, he immediately stood on alert. Alice's thoughts were on something that she'd seen in a window display and when he turned in the same direction as Alice's gaze, his eyes widened. There it was, at least a part of it. In that anonymous window display stood a part of the visions of his future. It was the dress; the one of Hermione and his 'honeymoon'. The plastic mannequin did not equal how well it had fitted Hermione's petite frame. The vision of him carrying Hermione with the lovely white dress on her toward the large double doors that hid the bedroom floated almost instantaneously in his head. He glanced at Hermione as she asked what happened.

"Wait here a moment, please." He simply said. "Stay with her," he whispered as he looked at Emmett and Rosalie who surreptitiously nodded in response.

He slowly as if in a daze walked to the shop with the display in question and examined the dress in the window before Alice dragged him inside with Jasper chuckling behind. He was very surprised to see that the small shop was currently managed or supervised by his former classmate, Angela Webber. Edward had always thought that Angela was very kind and pure of heart. He'd often wondered why Angela was friends with Jessica Stanley and Mike Newton but judging by her thoughts, Edward concluded that Angela did not think badly of her friends. Angela valued everyone's friendship above all and did not condemn them for what Edward thought was their questionable behaviour.

Angela also was surprised to see his former classmates in the small shop but she still welcomed them nonetheless. Angela Webber had never thought badly of the Cullens despite never having approached them personally. She admired Carlisle and Esme 'golden hearts' for having adopted five teenagers. That was why Edward Cullen had always been fond of her so when he saw her surprised look he genuinely smiled at her. The 'teenagers' exchanged a few pleasantries before Alice gave him a weird look.

Alice knew that he was delaying the reason why he'd entered the shop in the first place. Edward knew that by purchasing the simple white dress that he would be taking another step closer to his goal of getting closer to Hermione. But Edward was somewhat afraid of taking that step. _What if after everything he'd do, Hermione still did not want him?_

"Edward, if you're afraid to take that step then you'll never get what you desire. And you know that you desire that life that could be yours but you're just afraid of getting hurt in the process again. I understand that this might be too quick and too soon after Bella has gone but if you don't want to do it, you don't have to." Jasper surprising thought to him. _Wasn't he supposed to be pushing to take the jump?_

"When Hermione will be gone, you'll simply live eternally with regrets and doubts. All of those what ifs questions that you'll no doubt be asking yourself will gnaw at you and you'll be tortured forever with those three small visions that Alice had of a possible future with Hermione." Jasper had turned to look at him seriously. "Now, Edward, just ask yourself if you're ready or not for that kind of torment."

"Angela," he called to get his former classmate's attention, "I'd like to take a look at the white dress on display and possibly purchase it." Edward said nodding to himself.

"That is a wise decision," Jasper noted with satisfaction as Angela gave him a confused look before shrugging and walking to retrieve the mannequin behind the window.

It was simple as he'd thought it to be but he knew that it would look much better on Hermione. He was pulling out his wallet to pay for the dress when he heard Hermione's voice loudly calling for him in his head. "EDWARD! Wherever you've gone to, I need you to come here right now!"

Edward knew Hermione had not been yelling for him because Alice and Jasper had not lifted their heads like him. "Alice, can you check this out for me, I need to go see Hermione." Edward asked his sister who instantly picked up the urgency in his voice. "Thank you, Angela. I'm sorry but I'm in a hurry right now. I sincerely hope we can catch up another time."

He had been very sincere as he smiled at Angela before exiting as fast as he could the small shop. He looked around the floor of the mall where he was and spotted Hermione's back as she stood near one of the iron-wrought benches. He understood why Hermione had been as desperate as she must have been to call for his aid. She had been unfortunate enough to meet the two greatest gossips of his former high-school; Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory. There was no Emmett or Rosalie on sight. The pair would suffer later from his wrath.

Edward walked as casually as possible in direction of Hermione while he tuned in their conversation and thoughts.

"So, that's what Edward 'The Hair' Cullen is engaged to? She's not much to look at compared to Bella. But even Bella was not much to look at anyway. Maybe, he has a fetish for the geeky looks." Jessica Stanley's thoughts were loud and as obnoxious as ever.

"Can't she talk? Is she as much as a freak as that Bella girl?" Lauren Mallory's thoughts were as always foul to any other girls.

He almost growled as he smoothly walked behind Hermione and languidly wrapped his two arms around her small frame. She jumped in surprise but she relaxed when he softly murmured, "I'm here," in her left ear. To any one, it would look like a very intimate gesture but that was just for the improvised show.

He nearly whooped when he felt Hermione lean closer to him but he was more focused on the two harpies in front of him. "Hello," it was simple acknowledgement of their presence and he would gladly have kept it at that but as almost everything that happened recently, it did not go as planned.

"Oh, Edward! How are you?" Jessica asked in a fake sugary sweet voice.

"Couldn't I be the one held in those strong arms?" Lauren thought. "Yeah, how are you doing? It's shocking that we'd never had much opportunity to interact in school, don't you think?" Lauren said blinking rapidly.

"Not that this wasn't a pleasant meeting but Edward and I have places to be, don't we?" Hermione surprising said as she turned in his arms. He easily took the hint.

"You're English!" Lauren exclaimed.

Hermione snorted in response before she parried, "Correction; I am a British citizen. English is the language which you apparently have failed to note the subtle nuances of. But that is not really surprising coming from two persons who lack manners so much that they don't even know that introductions or pleasantries are a good way to approach a stranger. So, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, I just hope to not have the incredible pleasure of crossing paths again. But if we ever do, let it be known that I won't be as forgiving of your lack of manners as today." Hermione scathingly told the two ex-classmates before she tugged on his sleeve to make him move.

Edward chuckled as they left the two speechless girls behind. He could easily grow fond of his Hermione. His siblings were waiting for them on the parking under umbrellas as it was again a rainy day on the Olympic peninsula. Emmett apologized to him as soon as they got into his Jeep. He'd left Hermione to go check out the new arrivals at the video game shop and Rosalie had followed soon after him to make sure he did lose track of time.

He only nodded in acknowledgement as he noticed then that Hermione's left hand was still holding his. She was tapping his arm with the knuckles of her right hand.

"What are you doing?" He asked her amused and noticed Emmett and Alice looking back at them in the rear-view mirror.

"You do have really strong arms, Edward. I was just curious." She replied innocently.

"They are built to hold you tight, Hermione." Emmett said.

"Thank you, Emmett. I didn't know the purpose of Edward's strong arms was meant for me." Hermione remarked coolly. "Are there any other things, I should know about my darling, Edward that you wish to share with me?" Hermione asked she turned unseeing eyes to the car window. For the occasion, Alice had made her wear the darkest sunglasses that she had.

"Oh, I would not want to spoil your surprise. Edward is such a pocketful of surprises isn't he, Alice?" Emmett said before to his embarrassment adding with a grin, "I'll leave you the pleasure of unwrapping your present for the wedding night!" Alice and to his greater surprise, Hermione, snickered at Emmett's words.

Hermione later said after silence had fallen in the car, "I'm sure he is." Out of the blue, she asked the one question he had not expected.

"So, who's Bella?"

Emmett was so surprised the car swerved dangerously for one second or two before he righted the course. It was Alice who asked in an uncharacteristic squeak, "Where did you hear that name?"

"Tweedledee and Tweedledum." She simply replied.

"Are you just curious or simply jealous, then?" Emmett asked as his eyes moved to look at him in the rear-view window.

"I'd say I'm just curious. I can't possibly be jealous of what I never was, Emmett?" Hermione asked in return.

It was Emmett who again answered in his place because he felt his throat constricting because of the pain the name still brought him. "Bella was to Edward what you currently are." Emmett cryptically said.

"And that is?" Hermione prompted.

"She was my fiancée." Edward answered sighing as he looked at the rushing green scenery out the window.

"Oh," she simply said before she got lost in thought. The rest of the ride was spent in silence.

When they arrived home and that Edward helped her out of the car, he heard her mutter, "That was somewhat of a profitable day."

Edward agreed. It had been somewhat of a profitable day but he still could not decide if he was any closer to his objective. Nut, nonetheless, it had still been a profitable day.

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**Author note:**

Again, I know tt's taken me a long time and I apologize for the long wait. So, here you are with the first chapter with Hermione's point of view. As you've probably noticed, I've decided to let Edward's family give a little push to Eddiekin's as he still has some lingering doubts on whether or not, Hermione will be worth it.

As always, I wish to end this chapter by saying that the response to this story is above my highest expectations. I take this opportunity to thank everyone that have reviewed, listed it as one of their favourites or put a story alert for it. Thank you again for your never-ending patience with this story and I sincerely hope that you will like this new chapter.

**Cheers go to all of the reviewers:**

Anariel Phoenix Blade, AriesPrincess-Slyffindor, Tearainy, Elaine, TeamJazzy2571, Deadpeace6868, SunriseWILLcome, Megan Consoer, Snape, Tsukiyo Tenshi, Waterflower20, Arabellagrace, Mekom, NorthernLights25, Liani, Link's Rose, Hateme101, WitAngerand Bravery, ThatLikeSadia, Amara0221, Desi-Pari Always, AdrianaTheDragonSorceress, ZiaraC, Lw117149, The Red Strings, Twipotterfreak28, TimeRose, Ice Demon Ranger, LovelyInc,Andy Elladora Black, Nikki-4, , Vepattinson, Electra Phoebe, Sitanya, Chin22kitty, MoeBop, Hermionefan1999, RachelLee081689, Lina, Rain Drops and Lightning Rods and Beautiful-Liar13.

I'll conclude by wishing you all a great day and as always, take care of yourselves.

**Ludo**

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**PS:** A little self-promotion being always welcomed (o.O), you should check out the other Edward/Hermione story that I've recently into a multi-chaptered one. It still only has two chapters but should change quickly. I wish with Let the Right One In to explore some more adult themes. Hopefully, I'll be able to write something completely different from this story. Ciao.


	8. A Questioning Soul

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

* * *

**A Questioning Soul**

Esme inquired on how their little trip had been, Alice only replied that it had been eventful which was partially true. Emmett had rushed off to his room to try out his new games while Jasper wandered off to finish one of the old war tomes he had been reading. Rosalie sauntered off to go tinker with her car as usual and Alice danced her way to assist Esme in whatever she was preparing. Carlisle was off at work for one of his long shifts.

Edward simply led Hermione back upstairs to his room as they still had a lot of time before her lunch. After he had sat her in a chair situated in front of one the large bay windows, he slowly turned around to go back downstairs. But Hermione stopped him with one of her random questions.

"Why?" It was a simple word but Edward somehow knew what she really wanted to know. He knew that his family was as usual listening in. It was really difficult to keep a secret in their family with the superior hearing and the unusual combined abilities of an empath, a seer and a telepath. He decided that it would be much better to give Hermione an honest answer instead of a vague one.

"Because you needed me and called for me." It had been the only time when Hermione had willingly opened her mind for him to hear. "What happened to make you want me to come to your aid?" He did not expect Hermione to answer his question directly.

"I felt overwhelmed. There I was in an unfamiliar place surrounded by unknown faces all alone. I was unable to see the dimwits who'd approached me out of the blue and began talking to me as though I should know how 'important' they believed themselves to be. Wouldn't it have been nice to start with something normal? Like 'Hello, I'm Tweedledee and Tweedledum. How are you doing?' Don't people around here have any common sense?" She sounded exhausted.

"Instead, they just popped up from whatever hole they live in and just start talking. 'So, you're Edward Cullen's new girlfriend? Tweedledee," he somehow knew it was Jessica Stanley who had been dubbed like that, "she says your name with such reverence." Hermione snorted. "It made you sound like you are some kind of god. I do believe you would like that by the way, don't you?"

Of course, he would. Every guy, may they be a vampire or a human, like to be called a god. Right?

Hermione continued not expecting an answer from him. "And then they start harping on about how Bella and you seemed to go on so well. They acted like I was supposed to know who Bella was. But they kept firing questions in quick succession and I was overwhelmed. I think I would have suffered a panic attack had you not come back so rapidly." Hermione said in a resigned voice.

"What has happened to you?" Edward thought but restrained himself from asking.

"I thought that I would have been able to lead the life I've always wanted for myself but I guess the memories are still too fresh for thinking about that. And, on top of everything, I find myself officiously engaged to a vampire suffering from a severe case of personality disorder." She added laughing but there was an underlying bitterness that Edward did not fail to notice.

"I really am sorry for that little lie that we've cooked up for your presence around here. I understand that it inconveniences you –"

"Edward, I know. I understand that this story is just to protect your family and I don't mind that. It's just the absurdity of it all that gets to me." She sighed.

"I know. What is really more absurd is the fact that the town folks fell for it completely." Edward grinned when a small smile appeared on Hermione's face. "You should get some rest before the gargantuan meal that Esme's preparing for you." He chuckled when he heard Esme's indignant scoff.

"I'm not that tired, I've had more than enough rest these past days." Hermione told him before continuing, "Actually, I hadn't realised how much I needed that."

Edward knew there was a very important behind her exhaustion of the last days but he did not press any further. Something told Edward that Hermione would tell him everything in due time.

"That's all right. Then, what do you want to do?" Edward asked as he looked out the window watching yet another downpour falling on this remote part of the country that the Cullens have decided to call home.

"I, eh –" she hesitated as if debating whether or not she wanted to ask the question or if he would like to talk about what she wanted to know. "Will you be willing to tell me about her, Edward?"

He had not been prepared for that question. Maybe it was still too soon and still too raw to talk about Bella. Would he be able to evoke those memories without bringing back the heartbreak? He did not think he could. Maybe if he shared his story with Hermione, she would be more inclined to share hers with him. He might as well try.

"I first saw Bella on the day she started high school here in Forks after she came back to live with her father." Edward started. He sat on the bed looking at the pouring rain as he continued telling Hermione everything. How Bella had stumbled into the picture and forever changed his perception of the Cullens imitation of life. When he finished telling Hermione how Bella had left him, he again felt the immense pain that her departure had caused and was thankful when Jasper focused his talent on him to make it less harsh.

"Would you really have done it though? Would you have caved in and changed her after you were married?" Hermione asked.

"I don't think I had any choice in the matter with the Volturi literally on our backs. It was either kill her or change her." Edward said with anger as he thought of the trio governing the vampires.

"No, Edward. That's not what I meant. Would you have done it if it was only Bella who asked you to? If there had been no ultimatum from those mental Volturi, would you willingly have made that choice because she wanted you to?"

"I don't know. Carlisle has taught us that human life is highly valuable and I've done so many horrible things in my past. Changing her into a similar monster like me would take me back to a past that I've decided long ago to leave behind. I can't make her a soulless monster like me," Edward replied.

He heard Carlisle sigh heavily as the latter came back home after his longs hours at work. He felt more that heard the sadness in Carlisle's voice as the latter exhaled, "Oh, Edward!"

"I knew it. Here we go again!" Rosalie nearly screamed in frustration. "Haven't we heard this refrain before?"

He understood the reason behind Rosalie's exasperation but as his eyes fell on Hermione, who had turned unseeing eyes still hidden behind those large black sunglasses of Alice, Edward reckoned it was important to point this out. That the primary reason he had been reluctant to turn Bella was that he did not want her to lose a primordial part of what made her his Bella. Her soul, her pure innocent soul would have forever be pitched into the deepest of hells to be tormented in eternity. He could not let that happen although there was no doubt in him that at one point in time, might it be accidental, voluntary or forced, he would have given in and made Bella his for eternity.

"That's where you're mistaken, Edward!" Hermione simply remarked.

"What? You don't think we're monsters because we haven't killed you yet?" Edward retorted somewhat aggressively. "I could kill you in a heartbeat and none would be the wiser."

She took a deep breath before saying, "Do you know that the Mug – humans think that the reason why vampires cannot see their reflections in a mirror is because they believe that vampires have no souls. They believe that a mirror reflects not only our reflections but also shows the deepest part of ourselves; our mortal souls. So as vampires are immortal beings that have no souls, they should not be able to see their reflections in a mirror."

"Yes, I know," Edward replied not understanding what the point of this information was. He had always thought that it was a very silly belief of the mortals. "What about it?"

"I don't know if there's one in this room but can you just tell me if you're able to see your reflection, Edward?" She asked.

There was a mirror on the other side of the room and even though Edward thought it was utterly pointless, he glanced at it over the top of Hermione's head and saw as he expected his reflection mirroring what he felt; perplexity. He was perplexed at what Hermione thought he would be seeing.

He heard Emmett exclaiming to himself but he was till heard by the rest of house, "Yep, I'm still the hunk of the family." Emmett had apparently rushed to the mirror to see if there was some secret that he'd never known of. "Well, there's nothing extraordinary in this mirror other than the magnificent me."

Edward smiled at hearing Emmett. Emmett would always bring some humour in whatever situation the Cullens could find themselves in. The rest of the family was laughing as well and Edward smiled as he thought that for once the humour was not directed at him but Emmett.

"So?" Hermione prompted bringing his attention back to her. "What do you see or can't see?" She asked with a satisfied smirk.

"I can see myself but you already knew that." Edward replied

"Of course and that is because vampires, immortal beings as they are, are not soulless." She reasoned. "Now, Edward, can you tell me what is the biggest abomination that one can do towards someone else?"

It was Jasper who thought of the answer first and as Edward prepared to reply, he knew it was the right answer. "It is that of taking someone else's life."

"Yes, that is the worst someone can do in his life and his un-life. A vampire can follow his natural instinct and kill someone else to drink his blood but when he does so, a part of him is severed. I believe a part of his soul is severed by his irreversible act. I'm not naïve to think you haven't killed people in your past but can you tell me sincerely that you don't regret what you've done. That when you've taken those lives that you've haven't felt that some part of you was lost.

"In essence, what I'm trying to tell you is that despite what you may think you still have your soul."

"So, you say that I still have a soul although it may just be a part of my soul remaining because I've killed people." Edward asked confused.

"Yes, you still have your soul and no, your soul is still complete not severed."

"But, that's not what you said. You said that when one kills another, the abomination of that act severs your soul and I've killed many humans before." As he said this, he once again felt deepest regrets for his actions. There was not much he could do to correct that now for death was irreversible and he ought to know that since he himself was dead.

"Again, Edward you are mistaken. I know that you have killed before but that is not the point. The point I'm trying to make you understand here is that you've deeply regretted your actions. In your own ways, you've atoned for those regrettable deeds by refusing the very nature of what you are. A vampire has always been known through history to drink the blood of humans and yet you have all willingly denied yourself that blood and chosen to drink from animals. You've told me that ever since Bella has asked you to change her and even though her blood had been the ultimate temptation for your, you refused her. I believe that a part of you knew that by doing that simple but horrendous act, it would have torn what you managed to make whole again; your soul." Hermione finished in a whisper.

Even though Edward understood completely what Hermione had said to him, he was still not properly convinced. What did she know of souls anyway? Who had declared her an expert? He knew that it might not earn him brownie points but he could not stop himself from questioning Hermione's sources.

"Why should I believe you? How come you know so much on vampires and souls?" Edward questioned her in what he knew was a rather rude tone but that could not be helped.

She frowned but still nodded, "Let's just say that I've got a lot of first-hand experience from dealing with people having a severed soul. The madness and foulness that can emanate from walking around carrying the fractured part of a soul is unimaginable. It takes a lot to decide to kill someone and it takes even more to carry on murdering others without feeling remorse. The deeply dark nastiness that follows those people is intense and it takes an incredible measure of self-control to not let yourself follow those ones along the path to the dark."

"What's this? Is she going to tell us that she was once a Jedi that fell to the dark side of the Force and came back?" Emmett asked the family silently. Edward tuned his brother out as he listened to Hermione finished.

"A body without a soul can still live but what can a soulless person do? Someone who has lost his soul completely will feel no will to live and when this happens, death will only follow. So that is why I know Edward that your family and you are not the soulless monsters that you think you are. Despite not having beating hearts, you have found what is most important in life."

"And what's that?" He asked her.

"Love, of course. There is no greater power than love and it is through our ability to love that we recognise that someone has a soul." She told him sincerely. "You decided a long time ago to let yourself love the life that your family has built with you and then when Bella came, you simply accepted the fact you could still be loved for what you are; an incredibly stubborn vampire." She added with a smile.

Edward still had lingering doubts despite all what Hermione had told him. It would mean that he spent nearly a century living a lie and that seemed like a lot of wasted time to him. But as he considered everything he'd heard, he could not help but ask himself what had happened to Hermione. What could she mean by 'walking around carrying the fractured part of a soul'?

That was why Edward decided then and there that he needed more than brief snippets of truth. He wanted to know everything of Hermione and he wouldn't be able to do that if Hermione did not trust him enough. So he radically changed his plans.

"What do you need, Hermione?" He asked her.

"Erm, what?" The curly-haired girl asked in return not fully comprehending what was asked.

He crouched in front of her and gently took her hand in his. This might be it. He needed to be as sincere as possible but he wanted answers and he would not back down now.

"What do need me to do for you? I know you said you were looking for your parents but I can help you with that only if you trust me enough. I am here for you and I want you to know that you can trust me. We can find your parents for you if you tell us what you need." He told her infusing every word with as much sincerity as he could muster.

"Eh, I –," she began hesitatingly.

He reassuringly squeezed her hands. "You can tell me. I'm here for you."

"I already told you that. I've got to find my parents." Hermione told him.

"Are you adopted and you're trying to find your natural parents? Is it something like that?" He questioned.

"We could say that in a way I am currently an orphan." She replied.

"What do you mean, Hermione? You can trust me, you know." Those short answers would not suffice for now. It was the time for answers not to generate more questions.

"Because of me, my parents don't know I exist. They don't even remember their real names and that they have a daughter." Hermione shared. "I made them forget me and erased all evidence of my existence in their lives."

"Why did you have to do that?" Edward asked. His family was also asking themselves the same question.

"I had no other alternatives because of the circumstances I found myself in. It was necessary for me if I wanted to be able to focus on the task I needed to accomplish with my best friends."

"But why did you have to do that?" He pressed on.

"The times were dire and dangerous, Edward. My life, my very existence in my world was threatened and by extension, my parents would have been targeted."

"I knew it"" Emmett exclaimed. "She's an alien!" Apparently, Emmett had interpreted the comment that Hermione's existence 'in my world' meant that she was an extra-terrestrial. It was an entertaining thought, at least for the family, as Emmett had launched into a far-fetched theory about Hermione had come to them.

"I bet she's going to ask us if she can use the phone to call home." Emmett remarked.

"Emmett! That's just in a movie, not in real life!" Rosalie nearly screamed in aggravation at her husband while the rest of the family chuckled.

"What happened to you, Hermione?" Edward continued asking questions. He did not know when his luck would finally wind out but as Hermione was still in a benevolent mood, he might as well get some more useful and consistent information.

"There were terrible events these past years in my country," she said.

He knew of that. Carlisle and Jasper had discussed those strange occurrences for hours on end after they made the news. The increasing frequencies of the freak incidents were alarming but nothing ever proved that it could have been caused by the hands of humans or whatever the people of Hermione's world were. He rolled his eyes at the last bit. Now, he was thinking like Emmett and cataloguing Hermione as a non-human.

"I was very deeply involved in those events by way of my best friend who was the principal target. By extension, I was also a primary target because of my close ties with my friends and because of my heritage. It was … chaotic."

Edward frowned. He still did not understand what had happened to Hermione or what she had been doing to become a 'target'. But there was still one thing that he was positively 'dying' to know and he needed to find out. So, he simply asked Hermione his question not really expecting an answer from the British girl.

"What are you, Hermione?"

Hermione snorted. "Don't tell me you don't know?" She mocked. "I'm a girl, Edward. I thought it was evident."

"I know that but you know that was not what I wanted to know." Edward replied tightly.

She really was infuriating when she wanted to be and unluckily for him, she was mostly towards him. It seemed like he had finally run out of luck as Hermione's playful mood suddenly faded. She took one long breath before sighing loudly. She repeated this process three times before she turned to him again. It seemed like she had him trustworthy enough.

"I – I'm a Glenda-like," She simply said.

"But what in the world is a 'Glenda-like'," Emmett asked mirroring the questions floating in his family members' minds.

Edward understood what the pop-culture meant and somehow, it fitted in a bizarre way what he knew and believed Hermione to be. At the very least, it made much more sense than Emmett 'extra-terrestrial' theory.

But it was still a lot to take in, even for him.

Hermione Granger was a witch. A real one.

* * *

**Author note:**

Despite having successive crappy days, I still manage to find inspiration for the story and that's worth a lot of smiles (and reviews). Essentially, the chapter is mostly a filler but at least Edward knows what Hermione is. It doesn't mean however that the knowledge of Hermione being a witch will increase his awareness of how much our favourite girl can be wicked despite her pop-culture reference.

As always, I wish to end this chapter by saying that the response to this story is above my highest expectations. I take this opportunity to thank everyone that have reviewed, listed it as one of their favourites or put a story alert for it.

**Thanks to all reviewers:** AriesPrincess-Slyffindor, MoonWaters Light, Arabellagrace, Desi-Pari Always, Mrs. Regulus Arcturus Black, Amata0221, Snape, Random yet lovable, Amortentia-Malfoy, Pyroseyes, Hermionefan1999, NorthernLights25, Hateme101, SunriseWILLcome, Vepattinson, Teamjazzy2571, Waterflower20, MoeBop, Lw117149, Twipotterfreak28, Cibbler and Liani.

I'll conclude by wishing you all a great day (Happy Halloween, All Saints Day and All Souls Day).

As always, take care of yourselves.

Love,

**Ludo**


	9. A Private Talk

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. 

* * *

**A Private Talk**

She was a witch. He was a vampire. There were teens that were able to shape-shift into horse-sized wolves when sufficiently angered. Emmett was still a first-class bugger and the world was still as crazy as ever. Nevertheless, it seemed that normality in Edward's non-life was only just a concept.

It seemed so impossible to think that Hermione could be a witch but when he considered everything that had happened, it made sense in an odd way. All the odd terms that he heard, her mysterious arrival and that strange aura he felt when near her. When he summed up all these things, it strangely made sense.

"Edward, I – ". Hermione started bringing him back from his musings.

However, what she wanted to tell him was interrupted by Esme who announced that the lunch was ready and so whatever 'magic' that had been at work until then ended at the same time. Hermione stood up and allowed him to lead her downstairs to the kitchen. He did not join the rest of his family who had congregated as usual in the living room and discussing what they heard. He stayed with Hermione as she silently ate her lunch.

It was not a surprise to Edward that Carlisle had understood as well as him the small nod of Hermione to the classic 'The Wizard of Oz'. Carlisle had always been the most knowledgeable 'man' Edward had ever known. Jasper had also understood the pop-culture reference. However, what he did not understand was why Jasper seemed even wearier of Hermione than before.

However, Emmett was still adamant that Hermione was an undercover alien bent on invading the world and was loudly voicing his conclusions to the family. Hermione was shaking with laughter as they heard Emmett's ramblings.

"Emmett!" Rosalie almost cried in exasperation. "This is not science-fiction, this is real. Aliens don't exist."

"Yeah, just like vampires and werewolves don't exist, Rosalie." Emmett sarcastically replied. "Why can't you believe that it's possible?"

"Because it's just a fact, Emmett. There's no extra-terrestrial invasion being planned right now."

"You're wrong, Rosie." Emmett argued. "I'm telling you that the truth is not out there but it's right here sitting in the kitchen planning her next move and I'm gonna prove it right now."

In the blink of an eye, Emmett was standing right next to Hermione observing her with what he thought was a critical eye tilting his head to the right as he watched her.

"So, Hermione," he started startling the young witch, "when and where is the invasion to start?"

Hermione slowly put her spoon down; she was able to eat without aid now as her vision was gradually improving. She was able to distinguish general forms but globally her vision was still blurry. She swallowed her food and reached for the cup of water that he had placed next to her plate. It was only when the glass was empty and on the table again that she spoke.

"Unfortunately, due to some rather unusual and obvious circumstances," she pointed her finger at him for emphasis to which Emmett laughed out loud, "our plan has been postponed to the New Year. We'll therefore be starting the New Year with a big bang." Hermione shared in a very serious tone steepling her fingers for effect.

Edward knew exactly what she was doing; she was indulging Emmett in his fantasies. The family was in various states of shock but none more than Emmett himself was. He could not believe that he'd been right all along. Well, at least he thought he was right about Hermione.

"Yes, I knew it!" Emmett boomed victoriously. "We need to warn everyone. We need to call the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, the NASA, and the Men in Black as well." Emmett babbled frantically.

"The Men in Black, for real!" Hermione said. "Is that really necessary?"

"Of course, it is. We won't let this invasion take place, you know. We'll fight back. They always do so in the movies." Emmett retorted.

"And that is why you'll fail, Emmett. This isn't fiction but reality and we have unlimited means to secure the quick conquest of this world." Hermione parried.

Edward knew that Hermione should not be encouraging but it was still too funny to end it like that. His family having cottoned in on the situation were shaking with laughter but Emmett was too deep in his world that he failed to notice that.

"Mark my words, Alien girl! We will fight back and win." Emmett replied. "But I wonder –"

The thought had passed so quickly through Emmett's mind that Edward was unable to register what his brother would be asking as his next question.

"Hmm, and what is it that has you wondering?" Hermione inquired.

"Is it because you've fallen for Edward here that you'll be turning him into a human?" Emmett asked.

"Erm, yeah. Of course, I'll be doing just that." Hermione replied bemused by the odd question.

"I'm sure you'll very much appreciate that you did not follow your plans to neuter him. Either way, Edward won't be wasting any time …" Emmett, confided mischievously.

"That is enough, Emmett." Esme chided.

"All right, all right. So, when and where can I see your vessel?" Emmett asked.

Hermione who was still mortified by the evocation of their hypothetic future sex-life did not answer Emmett and Edward was the one who answered for her. "I agree with Esme, Emmett. That is enough."

"But I want to know, Edward." Emmett whined.

"Emmett, I really am sorry but I need to tell you the truth. I am not an alien. I am sorry for leading you on but it was too much fun to let it go like that." Hermione confessed.

"So, you've been making fun of me this whole time!" Emmett remarked with a pout. "You're as bad as Edward, I don't like you anymore." He said turning away from them.

"Don't be mad at me, Emmett." Hermione cajoled.

"That apology is not enough." Emmett responded in a dignified voice.

"Emmett, you know that you'll always have a bigger place in my heart than Edward!" Hermione tried.

"Much better but that's just because I'm bigger than Edward, right?" Emmett said as he turned back to them.

"That may be true but you're also funnier than Mr Broody here, you know." Hermione added with a bright smile.

"Yeah, I've always been funnier than Mr Moody. Edward would never understand what fun is even if it was belly-dancing in front of him on high-heels." Emmett remarked with a big grin.

As usual, it seemed these days, the whole family and Hermione laughed at his expense. He smiled good-naturedly at Emmett's humour.

"So, Hermione," Emmett started again. "If you're not an alien then, what are you?"

"I am a witch, Emmett," she simply said.

"Yeah, right? That is so believable." Emmett replied. "That explanation is so much more believable than the aliens' theory. I wonder if your broom is still waiting for you up there in the air and where have your warts gone?" Emmett added in a tone dripping with sarcasm. "I think that Carlisle should take another look at her, Edward. You must have hit her harder than we thought because she's gone crazy." Emmett remarked.

Hermione frowned as she heard Emmett's tone while he hissed at Emmett. "First, I don't even own a broom and with my acrophobia, I don't even want to approach one."

"If she had acrophobia, then how come she was in the clouds above the baseball pitch?" Edward heard Carlisle's thought.

"And as for the warts, it's the hags that have always had that appearance. That is just so cliché, Emmett." Hermione remarked.

Before Emmett proclaimed that he needed a demonstration, Edward said that Hermione should go rest for a little while. He ignored Emmett's silent pleas heard in his mind and guided Hermione back to his room. 

* * *

He waited until she fell asleep before he went back down and sat outside in the backyard to think. It was strange how he wanted the Alice's vision to come to fruition but he did. He desired it so much and he would do anything in his power to achieve it. However, he would not and could not force Hermione to love him. But Edward knew that whatever Hermione asked of him, he would do it. Whenever she would need his help, he would be there as quickly as possible to assist her. Just like that morning in the mall when Hermione called for him with Jessica and Lauren. Therefore, when he again heard her voice in his head calling for him, he did not hesitate.

"Edward!" He sensed a little hesitation in her voice as though she was not sure of what she was doing. "We need to talk. A private talk. And I want you to do the same stunt you pulled on my first day here!"

She was a bossy little one that much was true. Edward stood up and walked back into the house at a leisurely pace. He did not want to raise suspicions but as his eyes fell on Alice's frown, he knew that his sister had noticed his behaviour.

"Just be truthful with her and you'll be surprised by what you'll find out." Alice thought to him as he set his foot on the staircase.

It was his turn to frown at his sister. However, whatever Alice's cryptic words meant, Edward did not wait to understand the meaning as he went up the staircase to his room to find that Hermione was still soundly asleep. That was when he understood what Hermione meant. She wanted him to repeat what he had done when he had unexpectedly barged into her mind and watched her productive mind in action. However, Edward doubted that he would be able to do the same exact thing.

He tentatively tried to read her mind. Unlike every other person he had met before, Hermione's mind was not open to his ability but it was different from what he felt with Bella. When he focused his ability on Bella, all he ever got was silence. However, when he tried to read Hermione's, it was as if he hit a concrete wall and the only sound that he was able to hear was static. Sometimes, however, he was able to hear her thoughts when she was distracted but every time he tried to dig deeper, she felt his presence and without preamble, her mind would close to him. This time, however, Edward did not feel a wall hiding Hermione's thoughts. Her mind was open to him but it was silent.

Then, he heard a soft sigh and Hermione murmuring, "I hope it works."

Therefore, like he had done the first time, Edward tried the hardest he ever had to read someone's mind and as baffling as the first time had been, he found himself in Hermione's mind. He was however surprised to note that he did not find himself again in that cathedral-like library but on what appeared to be a wooden bridge.

He could not determine the length of the bridge as a thick fog hid the rest of the structure. It was a covered bridge with large open arches overlooking a deep gorge. At least, Edward assumed it was a deep gorge because the fog was also hiding the view underneath the bridge and beyond. He assumed it was the night as it was slightly dark and gloomy and then, Edward could distinguish a towering silhouette that stood in the background on the promontory. It might be the full moon because otherwise, he would not have been able to see the difference in the background but he did and he wondered what was hidden from his view.

He looked around to see if he could see Hermione but either she was not there or she was hidden by the fog and so Edward started walking looking behind every arch hoping to see the elusive witch. She was standing under an arch overlooking the river below that he could hear but not see running.

She was wearing a pleated grey skirt with knee high grey socks tucked into a simple pair of black shoes. The collar of a white blouse appeared above a grey pullover hidden under a red and gold thick scarf. It looked like a school uniform. She did not turn to him when he stopped behind her; it looked as though she was lost in thoughts.

A figure walked next to him and disappeared in the fog. He had not heard anyone approaching and he did not have much time to register what had happened before other figures emerged from the fog on the bridge on the other side. He wasn't able to distinguish any distinctive features as the faces and the general silhouettes of those 'persons' were blurred. All he could see was that the blurred 'people' wore similar outfits to Hermione but some had a cloak over their clothes. He also saw some wearing scarves and ties of different colours. Some wore the red and gold scarves and ties. Others wore black and yellow, blue and brown or maybe bronze, green and silver. The figures walked by him not stopping to acknowledge his existence before they disappeared into the fog on either side of the wooden bridge.

"This time, you won't be seeing anything I do not want you to see, Edward." She started before she turned to him. "You must understand that there are things in my world that need to stay a secret like what is hidden behind the fog."

"What is it?" He could not stop himself from asking.

"This is my old school. It is one of the most prestigious and ancient schools of magic. The location is a secret to all outsiders except those of the Wizarding world. It is not that I don't trust you, because as odd as it sounds, I do trust you, Edward. I am still asking myself whether it is a good or bad thing. However, all things considered, I can't disclose the location to you right now because of exterior threats."

Edward understood that she meant the Volturi as the exterior threats. He understood that Hermione trusted him and by extension his family; they have after all proved themselves to be reliable. He realised however that Hermione had already anticipated the Volturi as a possible threat to her world and mostly her old school. The bloodthirsty Volturi would probably feel that an isolated school full of young students would make an ideal hunting ground for them. The fact that the school was one of magic would probably add to the thrill of the hunt for them. Also, Edward was feeling quite happy to hear that despite the odd way that they'd met, Hermione trusted himhe real. It was still just a small thing to feel happy about but he could definitely work with that.

"So, you wanted to talk to me privately about what?" he asked as he leaned against a pillar of the bridge turning his body to face her.

"I wanted further explanations on what Emmett meant by turning you into a human," Hermione asked him directly.

It was the one question that Edward had feared to hear. Could he indeed tell her that in a vision of Alice, he had seen their future life together? That because he took a stance, against what Rosalie and Jasper had decided, he had been given a sneak peak of something that looked like a formidable promise. Could he tell her that what had been a make-up excuse for her presence in Forks would turn out as a reality that would be followed by a beautiful wedding?

Edward really doubted what his answer to her rather innocent question could be. It could either way give different outcomes to what he desired. Hermione could either decide that he was crazy or ignore him for the rest of her stay, or she could also pack her things and walk away from him as Bella had done. Just thinking of that outcome, Edward felt that somehow his un-beating heart constrict painfully.

He could actually decide to follow Alice's obscure advice and be truthful to her. Yet, Edward was afraid of the consequences of his decision. He recognized that he had been making a steady stream of regrettable mistakes recently and if he made Hermione walk away from him, he knew that he would forever regret it. After all, he was immortal and he had eternity to 'live' with his regrets.

"It's one very crazy thing that Alice saw in a vision of hers." Edward began.

Hermione's nose scrunched with something like disdain at the mention of Alice's ability. It surprised everyone in the family that Hermione seemed to dislike his pixie-like sister after he had told Hermione his story. His 'life', as a Cullen, had always been greatly influenced by the visions of Alice and so the mention of her ability had come up during his tale.

"You'll realise, Edward, that I'm rather good with crazy things. Try me." She invited.

It was now or never. It would either turnout to be a miss or a hit. Edward was conscious that if he wanted Hermione to confide in him fully, he needed to be open to her. Thus, Edward launched himself into the explanation of how the visions had come to be, the argument with Jasper and Rosalie and his staunch stand in her support. She did not interrupt only nodding here and there to show that he still had her full attention.

He hesitated a few seconds before he continued with the contents of Alice's visions. Even then, Hermione did not interrupt him but as he watched her face, Edward saw flickers of incredulousness, and disbelief pass over her face in rapid succession. When he finished, Edward held his breath, even though it wasn't necessary for him, waiting for a more substantial reaction.

Hermione nodded her head as she absorbed the information and leaned against the wooden pillar behind her. She stayed silent a few more minutes as Edward watched her process what he'd just told her. A few more figures walked here and there on the bridge as he waited for Hermione's reaction. Only when Hermione turned again to him did he release the breath he was holding.

"Is that why you decided to take care of me today, Edward? Because you wanted to know what it would feel like to take care of someone like me?" Hermione asked.

"Erm, yeah. Let's just say that I tried to figure it out in my own twisted way." Edward shared.

She hummed in response before saying with a smile, "You're even weirder than I thought."

He smiled at that. Edward was however waiting for what Hermione thought of the visions. He needed to know what she thought of the wedding, the honeymoon and what it entailed, and of the human with kids' thing.

"And?" he started meaningfully.

"I understand that it was your decision that triggered those visions of Alice," she said the last part with a lot of disdain, "but, do you really think Edward that us, together, is something possible? You have only just been dumped by your fiancée. Sorry for bringing that up, by the way, and you would dive into a new relationship with a complete stranger because you saw yourself getting married to the same stranger in some unknown future. Aren't you placing too much hope into something that could never happen? What about me? What about my decision?" She asked breathlessly.

Even if he hated to admit it, it was entirely true. The vision of Alice was triggered by his decision but didn't take into consideration what Hermione wanted. He knew that he wanted Hermione in his life but it was only after he decided to protect Hermione and the vision of his future that he decided to pursue the young witch. The possibility that was presented by the vision of his future was so overwhelming that he forgot to take into consideration Hermione's decision. The possibility of that future could only be determined by what Hermione would now decide.

"The rest of this future is only up to you. If it can influence your decision, I promise to love, cherish and look after you." He said in earnest. "When I saw us together in that possible future, it was not the possibility that I could be a human again that I wanted. It is the love I saw between you and I that made me want to try to make this future come true."

It was primordial for Edward that Hermione understood why he'd decided to try to make that future a reality. It was true that he craved that pure love he witnessed in Hermione and his eyes. There was so much more in those few seconds than whatever he'd ever seen in Bella's eyes. He did not doubt Bella's love for him but he knew that Bella also felt the lure of his kind strongly. It was after all what made her want to discover his secret.

"You make it sound like it's so easy, Edward. Yet, it is not. There is so much more to take into consideration. I've already planned what I want to do and what I'll have to achieve to reach my goals. And nowhere did I fit holy matrimony in my plans." Hermione said in a serious tone. "I trust you when you say that you will look after me." Edward sadly noted that she strategically omitted the part where he promised to cherish and love her. "But don't you think it is crazy? To plan your future life from the fleeting vision Alice had after your decision."

"Hermione," he sighed, "my decision was not short-lived. It was determined and resolute. I chose to protect you and despite what you might think, it was not a whimsical or ephemeral thing at that moment in time. It is a permanent choice when it concerns you and that is why Alice had that vision. It was clearer than anything she'd ever had with her gift and that is what makes me certain that this future can come to fruition. All I need … all _we_need," he emphasized the collective pronoun, "is to give ourselves the chance; the chance to make it come true."

She stayed silent after his little speech and stared at the roof of the covered wooden bridge. He waited and waited for her answer. It seemed like hours had passed before she turned back to him.

"Let's just say, I'll give it a try. Ok?" Hermione offered tentatively.

"That is all I ask." He answered with relief.

"Good, then." She nodded in agreement. "That second part of the vision?"

"Is she referring to the honeymoon one or the house and kids' one?" Edward thought.

"I'm sorry to tell you that as far as I know there is no known cure to vampirism." His heart fell hearing that. "We also have to take into consideration the fact that in essence a vampire is a dead body. A body that is only able to move because of the venom. Even though it is technically impossible to cure vampires, we cannot reverse death, as it is irreversible. Well, technically, we could," his eyes widened at hearing that, "but we would have to break many fundamental canons of magic to achieve just that and it would be more complicated than anything ever attempted."

He only nodded his understanding of Hermione's words. He would need to talk to Carlisle about that. It seemed, to Edward, that she was going to ignore the mention of the honeymoon and the children that he saw. He was not going to call her on those particular points, as he'd seemed to have achieved an agreement.

"Can I ask you a favour, Edward?" Hermione unexpectedly asked.

"Of course, you can. Like I told you, I will help you any way I can." Edward answered with sincerity.

"Can you find my parents for me? I need to find them quickly and I can't do that correctly right now, as you well know." Hermione questioned.

"Yes, I can if you give me the information needed to do that." Edward provided.

"My parents currently go by the names of Wendell and Monica Wilkins. Like I told you before, I had to erase their memory and send them to Australia." She supplied as information.

Edward could not stop himself from asking, "Will you tell me someday what happened to you?"

"I will, Edward. I will tell you my story another day. It surprisingly is a long story and I think that your family would like to hear it too." She replied.

It was fair enough for him because Edward desperately wanted to know Hermione's story. So if she promised to tell him later, it meant that she at the very least considered staying longer in his house.

Without any warning, Edward was thrown out of Hermione's mind and he found himself again sitting on the bed next to the young woman. Understanding that the strange conversation was over, Edward stood up and made his way downstairs but before he was out of the bedroom, he heard Hermione's voice with his ability.

"Oh, and thank you, Edward!" She simply thought to him before he again heard static meaning that Hermione had again closed her mind to him.

It was with a certain and uncharacteristic spring in his steps that an elated Edward went down to join his family in the living room. Of course, Jasper, the empath, felt his happy mood and he did not wait to voice it out.

"You're in a very happy mood, Edward. Is there something you wish to share with us?" Jasper remarked.

"What?" Emmett gasped in mock shock. "There must be a problem. Edward is our Mr Broody, he can't be happy. We need to call Carlisle so he can examine him. There must be something broken with him."

No matter how crazy his immortal life was, Edward knew he would always have one big constant in his life and it was Emmett. Emmett would always be Emmett and as annoying as the huge vampire brother was, Edward was resolutely fine with that. 

* * *

**Author note: **

I am surprisingly very much satisfied with this chapter. It really came out, as I wanted it to be. Therefore, now Hermione knows what Edward wants with her.

As usual, I wish to end this chapter by saying that the response to this story is above my highest expectations. I take the opportunity to thank everyone that have reviewed, listed it as one of their favourites or put a story alert for it.

**Thanks to all reviewers: **Link's Rose, Dragonfly1339, Gemini-Rose16, RainWitch148, Davee, Dreamer01, TsukiyoTenshi, Random yet lovable, Amata0221, AriesPrincess-Slyffindor, Galgalatz, Guest 10/31/12, Pyroseyes, Vepattinson, PeeBoink, Nikki-4, Not So Sirius, MoonWatersLight, Personinlove, NorthernLights25, VampireWitch, Hateme101, Liani, TeamJazzy2571, SunriseWILLcome, Lauramalfoy-Ravenclaw, Waterflower20, Sadia, Ewelina Black, Guest 11/8/12, Amjed, Jeluem, LoveComesFromPain, Guest2 11/8/12, Len,Twipotterfreak28, TheCrazyWizard, LenOfMarch, Sampdoria, Deedledimbo, Ice Demon Ranger, IAimHigher, Flyingberry, Alia, Jade, Desi-Pari Always, Amelia, ManuMilitari, InesMariePattinson, SimUleyTe, Natasha.

As always, take care of yourselves and have a great day.

Love,

**Ludo**


	10. A Clear View

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

A Clear View

Hermione was woken up later by a loud clap of thunder. It was again raining heavily outside and Hermione groaned as she sat up on the bed watching the torrential downpour batter against the large windows of Edward's room. Hermione walked up to one of the door windows, opened it before stepping on the sheltered balcony, and gazed at the forest that surrounded the Cullen house.

She stayed silent as she watched the rainfall down on the green scenery; the dark clouds above were often zebra-striped by lightning and were followed by rumbling claps of thunder. It was oddly calming to Hermione. She really needed the calm because Hermione's mind had gone into overdrive the moment she woke up.

She couldn't believe that she'd actually agreed to this. That silly redhead vampire was even loonier than Luna Lovegood was on one of her best days. That had to be it. He couldn't really be considering this or he was even more bizarre than she first believed.

It was impossible that a vampire could ever be turned back to a human. What Edward had described was inconceivable. In essence, a vampire was a dead body maintained untouched by decay with venom and they needed blood to sustain themselves to continue to exist. She'd memorized the very painful process of the turning with her obsessive perusal of the books of the Hogwarts' famous library. She was aware of the slow and agonizing torture that one would have to endure before the heart stopped. Hermione considered that it was very similar to someone under the Cruciatus curse. She very clearly understood. _Then, how in Merlin's pants could it be possible that a vampire could ever be turned back to a human?_ She had no bloody idea.

She was so lost in thought that Hermione had not even registered that her vision had fully returned. She just stood there thinking of the impossible notion that Edward had shared with her when she thought she saw a figure emerge from the treeline. A flash of lightning followed and when she looked back at where she spotted the figure, it had disappeared. She blamed the hallucination on her overactive mind.

"Edward, you cheated!" Emmett's loud voice made her jump in surprise.

She saw the large silhouette of Emmett walk out of the forest into the yard. He did not seem to mind getting wet in the heavy rain. Then again, with the particular weather around Forks, it should be something that the town folks should be used to.

"I did nothing of the sort. You're the one who's to slow to keep up with me, Emmett," Edward's voice retorted from inside the house.

The Cullen household sometimes was as loud as the Weasleys' Burrow before everything went downhill after the War. Hermione ignored the usual surge of pain that came from thinking of the war and all those who had fallen. It wasn't the time to think about that. She had not allowed herself the time to grieve for the fallen since the Battle of Hogwarts. She had not even attended a funeral to the victims of the war. It would have been too much for her. She promised herself that she would let herself grieve once she had found her parents. She just hoped that her parents would understand why she had had to resort to such drastic measures in regards to their security.

She had focused on the rounding of the escapee Death Eaters, on the reconstruction effort of the Wizarding World and the reorganization of the Ministry under Kingsley Shacklebolt and the Order of the Phoenix's tutelage. Some Ministry employees, like Dolores Umbrage, had provided as excuse for their actions that they had only been following the new directives of Pius Thicknesse' administration. Umbrage had even said that if every ministry that had unquestioningly followed the 'Magic is Might' policy should therefore be sent to Azkaban as per the Order's logic. Minerva McGonagall and she had pointed out that even though the ministry employees were unwillingly forced to follow the new policies, none had however been as vicious as Umbrage with her Muggleborn Registration Committee with the persecution of the Muggleborns and Muggles. It was to no surprise that Umbrage and her cronies had been sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban.

She sighed as she went back inside Edward's room and closed the door behind her. It was only then that she realised that her vision had fully returned as she looked at the room. One wall was occupied by a shelf filled with books, CDs; a powerful hifi system had also been crammed on the shelf. There was a large flat screen TV on the opposite wall from where she was standing with a couch facing the TV. The bed had been placed next to the glass windows and every nook and crannies left were occupied by music CDs and books. Some were even piled on the floor next to her and on the couch with her small beaded bag. Her room back home was in a similar state of organized chaos but back there, there were only books that filled every available space in her room. She liked his room.

She purposefully walked to the couch and grabbed her bag before opening it and plunging her hand and arm inside in search of her most precious tool, her wand. It had formally been Bellatrix Lestrange's wand but after winning the wand's allegiance, she wasn't able to get rid of it. She had even gone to Ollivander's, after Garrick Ollivander had reopened his shop, to purchase a new wand for herself but had been dismayed to learn that no new wand would work for her when she already had won a wand's allegiance. It was strange to think that the wand that had been used to torture her was also the one that she was now using in the new life that she'd fought so hard to make come true while the former wand's user had been on the opposite side. Despite what her initial reluctance to use it had been, the walnut wand with a dragon heartstring now worked in tune with her. It might also be because it's former user was now dead.

Once she felt the handle of her wand in the bag, she grabbed it and pulled it out. The unyielding twelve and a quarter inches long wand now felt familiar in her hand. She thrilled at the recognizable surge of magic that connected her core to the wand. It had been only a few days but it still felt so long ago that she had put the wand in the beaded bag for safekeeping while she travelled by Portkey. It was perfect.

She lifted her head and stared around her. It would be so easy to Apparate herself away now that she could see clearly. She could have done that same thing also before her vision had been restored but her priority had been to get to Australia and look for her parents. However, being handicapped, even if temporary, she would not have progressed as quickly as she would wish. But, that was then, now she could just go looking for her parents and not look back.

She saw the open door that led down to the living room and heard his voice as he argued with Emmett about whatever bet they'd had. She promised to give him a chance and whatever her initial feelings had been about him, she would give him his chance. It was strange that she could even contemplate the thought of getting married to him when Ron and she had just concluded that they were better suited as friends. It was true that they had felt the tension between them rising with the years but when she finally kissed him in the Room of Requirements, she did not feel any of the sparks that she'd read in the trashy novels that her mother had stashed in the attic.

Thinking of her friends, she desperately needed to send a letter to Harry and Ron. It had been more than one week since she left England by means of a Portkey to Australia but, of course, she never made it to Australia because of him and Emmett's stupid dare. It would not do to procrastinate with her two best friends because once word came out that the Portkey arrived to destination but without her, she did not doubt that there would be hell to pay. They had always been a bit too wand-happy. They had this 'Shoot first then ask questions' policy perfected to a tee. Moreover, if they heard that she had been injured, although accidently, by vampires, there really would be hell to pay. They'd be popping there wands blazing and in a blink of an eye, the Cullens would be no more than a pile of ash. Whatever traumatic experience her best friends had gone through, they would not change. They would most probably mature with time but they would always follow their instincts. She smiled because she loved them how they were.

Now she just had to find something to write a letter to her friends. Edward probably had everything needed but she wasn't about to go snooping around without his permission.

"Edward, come here right now!" She exclaimed in her most bossy tone. She heard someone gasp before a second later; he was standing at the door watching her.

"Are you always this bossy?" He asked as he leaned against the doorway.

"Yes, and you better get used to it." She replied automatically not realising how much impact her words would have for the vampire who grinned brightly at hearing her words.

"Is there something you need?" He asked in a very happy tone.

He was wearing a simple pair of jeans and a white button down shirt with the top button undone. He stood regally with squared shoulders and straight back. Hermione realised that she was a head shorter than Edward was. His body was incredible, but the true work of art was his face. Each feature so unique they complimented each other in ways that could steal your breath. Indeed, Edward Cullen did steal her breath.

His fiery copper hair mussed from his hands constantly roaming in it, eyes that resembled the colour of molten gold, faint with shots of darker honey speckled throughout, were framed with long, thick lashes a few shaded darker than his hair. Full lips, which had Hermione briefly, wonder what they would feel like pressed against hers. A strong nose, high cheekbones, and a perfect square jaw. Yes, Edward Cullen was pure sin. Yet, in all his godly perfection, Edward Cullen was not a human. He was a vampire and he was the vampire that wanted to marry her. _Fancy that!_

"Actually, yes. I need to send a letter home to my friends and I was wondering if you had parchment and a quill I could borrow." She questioned.

"Parchment and quill?" Emmett asked as he appeared next to Edward with a raised eyebrow. "Like the papyrus they used in Ancient Egypt and a bird feather?" When she nodded in response, Emmett let out a booming laughter.

"Why would you need parchment and quill? Edward asked ignoring the howling banshee who stood next to him.

"I need to write a letter to my friends to tell them that I'll probably be taking longer to find my parents and not to worry. It's been more than a week since I've left and they're bound to get word that I never made it to Australia." Hermione explained.

"Does that … does that mean that you can see clearly now?" Edward asked as he took a tentative step towards her.

While Emmett had launched himself into a rendition of Jimmy Cliff's 'I Can See Clearly Now', Hermione watched Edward walk up to her. He stopped only a few inches in front of her and looked into her eyes. His eyes followed the movement of hers as they mutually observed each other. Whatever he saw in her eyes, whatever magic moment they shared in these few seconds, Emmett managed to break it as he brought one of his large hands on Edward's shoulder. Hermione's eyes automatically moved to the larger vampire. He really was larger, with broad shoulders and short brown hair. He was a mountain compared to her but as large as Emmett Cullen was, Hermione felt a little satisfaction at knowing that he was nothing compared to Hagrid or to Grawp.

"This song would have been perfect if had actually stopped raining." Emmett said.

Hermione could not help thinking that it would have been the case if she knew what real obstacles would stand in her way. "Yes, my vision has returned completely and I still need to send this letter." She reminded them.

"Will paper and a pen suffice or does it absolutely have to be parchment and quill?" Edward asked her, his eyes had not left her.

"That shall do. I don't believe you have an owl at your disposal also?" Hermione added.

"What would you need an owl for?" Emmett asked with an amused smile.

"To send the letter, of course," Hermione simply replied as she turned and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Haven't your people ever heard of postal services?" Emmett questioned laughing while Edward smiled.

A tricky question if there ever was one. The Wizarding World was so adverse to change that Wizarding families still used candles to light up their houses. Then again, some houses were so imbued with magic that no electronic would have been able to function correctly.

"Why not give them a call or send an email?" Edward suggested when she failed to answer.

She could not stop herself. The suggestion was so ludicrous that she burst out laughing. She could not imagine Ron using a 'fellytone' in the Burrow. Harry had told her that the only time that Ron used a telephone, he had been yelling through the phone believing that Harry would not be able to hear him. Just thinking of the joy that Mr Weasley would feel of having a telephone installed at the Burrow made her laugh harder. He'd probably be overwhelming the phone company employees that would be connecting the Weasley crooked house to the Muggle world by firing a thousand questions at them, one after the other.

She did not even know if Harry knew how to use a computer. She never bothered to ask. She reasoned that Harry having grown up with the Dursleys would know how to. When she thought of Ron or Mr Weasley in front of a computer trying to send an email made her laugh even harder than before. It was guaranteed chaos. Overall, Hermione knew that a computer would never function in the Burrow. Too much magic held it standing.

"I don't believe the postman would know how to deliver the mail to them. They haven't got a phone and I don't believe any of their relatives do either and I won't even bothering answering you about the email." Hermione replied.

"Strange lot these wizards don't you think, Edward?" Emmett asked his brother who simply nodded.

"So, you'll be using the owl to send your letter all the way to England?" Edward questioned. When she only nodded in response, Edward continued, "Will any owl do or do you want some specific species?"

She'd never thought of that. At Hogwarts, she'd seen a variety of owls, typical and barn owls deliver letters and post. Would the owls around Forks be of the semi-sentient species that were used by the wizards? There was only one way to find out. Emmett was grinning like a kid on Christmas morning.

"I'll need the owl alive, please!" She reminded Emmett as the vampire was already exiting the room.

"Yeah, yeah. I heard you." Emmett replied waving his hand.

"I think we should probably follow him to ensure that he doesn't cause the extinction of a species," suggested Edward. They were indeed following Emmett, had stopped at the door, and heard shuffling in the nearest room.

"I heard that, Edward." Emmett said as he emerged from the room with a pair of hiking boots already on.

The trio descended the stairs and Hermione smiled at the irony. She'd left two members of the infamous Golden Gryffindor Trio at home and now, she'd already formed a new trio with Emmett and Edward. It was still raining heavily outside and Edward turned to her as they stopped at the back door of the house.

"Hop on my back." Edward told her.

"I beg your pardon, what?" Hermione automatically asked. Did he just suggest that she piggy rode on his back?

"We have our own mode of transport and we're very fast like that. So, hop on my back and hold on tight, Hermione." Edward said.

"I trust that this mode of transport is safe?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"It is. Now, be a good girl and do as the man tells you." Emmett said as he lifted her effortlessly and placed her on Edward's back. She automatically wrapped her arms around his neck to stabilize herself and sent her most vicious glare at Emmett in retaliation. "What? You were just stalling and you said that the letter was urgent." Emmett defended.

"Never mind." Hermione answered. She realised something then. "How come you two are the only ones around here? Where are the others?"

"We came back early from our hunt. Esme is with Rosalie doing some grocery shopping which means she's buying enough to feed an army while Carlisle is at work. As for Alice and Jasper, they are still hunting. Their last hunt was last week or something." Edward explained.

"So, that explains the mud prints in the kitchen and the wet clothes hanging on the door there." Hermione remarked. Boys would always be boys, whether the vampire or the normal types.

"We'll clean up later. We just grabbed some freshly laundered clothes from the machine. We'll have time before Esme arrives or she'll be giving us an earful." Emmett supplied with a sheepish smile.

"OK, let's go. Hold on tight and close your eyes. It might make the experience easier." Edward informed her.

He did not give her time to argue any further before he took off running at breakneck speed. The forest zoomed before her eyes but it was all just a blur of colours. Hermione could not even say how much distance they had covered but the speed had made her dizzy. She tightened her hold on Edward and lowered her head to his neck. She could not say how much time had passed but Edward eventually slowed down and she found herself in a very dark patch of the forest.

Emmett appeared a few seconds later next to Edward. "Even when I'm carrying someone, I'm still faster than you." He told his brother in a smug tone.

"Can we focus, please?" Hermione interrupted the incoming banter as she loosened her hold on Edward and lowered herself to the ground.

"So, where do we begin?" Emmett asked her.

"I'd suggest you to try the trees. You know that owls live in trees, Emmett." Hermione replied with a smirk.

"This is just great. I get stuck with Edward's duplicate." Emmett huffed before he leapt into a giant pine tree. The tree swayed with his force but luckily stayed standing.

"Wow. I'd never thought I'd live to see this, the amazing spider-vamp!" Hermione declared with a teasing smile as she turned to Edward who laughed in response. She liked the sound of his laugh. He really should laugh more often.

"I resent that," Emmett said as his head popped upside down in front of her before he disappeared into the thick branches above.

Hermione and Edward stayed standing side to side under the tree. Despite the heavy rain above, they were not wet because of the thick foliage that bore the brunt of the rainstorm. They heard Emmett swear each time he wasn't able to catch his prey. Eventually, an owl managed to escape the rampage and flew in their direction for safety. Edward caught it as it flew just over Hermione's head. The owl understanding that all flight was now impossible, she docilely flapped her wings one last time before tucking her head under one wing.

Emmett appeared a few minutes later with another owl under his arms, which hooted indignantly at the mistreatment, with feathers and leaves in his hair and strewn on his clothes. His very satisfied smile faded as he saw the docile owl that had attached itself on Edward's arm. He growled at Edward's smug smile and let the captured owl escape.

"Don't be mad, Emmett. Since Edward will be carrying the owl back, I'll be hitchhiking with you." Hermione cajoled with a smile.

"Ha, take that," Emmett cheered as the smug smile evaporated on Edward's face. Taking advantage of Edward's lack of attention, Emmett had quickly picked her up and took off running. To Hermione's surprise, they made it back to the house very quickly. Moreover, to Edward's later shock, Emmett had been the fastest to the house. It was to Emmett's cheers that the trio made their way to the house through the backdoor. However, the three of them were surprised to find Esme standing in the kitchen tapping her foot in annoyance and pointing at one of the many mud prints left on the wooden floor. Rosalie was standing next to Esme with her arms crossed and wearing a very superior look. It seemed to Hermione that there were two vampires who were in deep trouble.

"Oops," Emmett breathed.

**Author note: **

I'll end this here. A little bit of bonding with Edward and Emmett for Hermione. We'll deal with the rest of the family later.

As usual, I wish to end this chapter by saying that the response to this story is above my highest expectations. I take the opportunity to thank everyone that have reviewed, listed it as one of their favourites or put a story alert for it.

**Thanks to all reviewers: **Random yet Lovable, Sampdoria, AriesPrincess-Slyffindor, MoonWatersLight, NorthernLights25, Southpearl, Nylanna1105, Amata0221, Dragonfly1339, Amortentia-Malfoy, Amy-Styles-Malfoy, Flyingberry, Galgalatz, Beserked2, Link's Rose, Alia, Pyroseyes, Vepattinson, SunriseWILLcome, Twipotterfreak28, Cheliz, Hateme101, Guest120112, HermisLupim26, India And Jovica, Nathaliie, Love Comes From Pain, IAimHigher, Amjed, ManuMilitari, Ines Marie Pattinson, SimUleyTe, LenOfMarch, The Crazy Wizard, Jeluem, Icelynne, ForTheLoveOfHades, Ptit Con, Dores, The Belle Nabab, Lauritch, JP, Lucky Dude, Liani, Waterflower20, Shelbey, Chyaraskiss, HarryHermioneEdwardBella, Auelle, E J ect, Blazzer12, XTooxLazyxToxLoginx, Intraleaena, RebelMagnus, Ashgoth, Sandrine Loves Ryan Philippe, Lucky Dudette, JIPEE, Uppity, Vampire-BlackRose, Smilin Steph, .96780, Sherychery7, Megan Consoer.

As always, take care of yourselves and have a great day.

Love,

**Ludo**


	11. An Unexpected Trip

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

* * *

**An Unexpected Trip**

Esme had quite severely punished Edward and Emmett but it wasn't anything unmanageable for either vampires. It might have been even pleasurable to watch if only Emmett could have stopped whining. She had not even let them explain the reason why they had rushed out leaving the kitchen and laundry room in a mess. It was a rather creative punishment actually. As Esme had pointed out, it would have taken Edward and Emmett only one or two minutes to clean up the forgotten mess. Since they hadn't thought of that, Esme had deemed that a proper lesson was in order and had thus ordered them to clean up the disaster without using any of their superhuman speed and be very meticulous about it. Thus, the pair was left cleaning the mess at normal speed.

"But Esme," Emmett started in a plaintive tone.

"Stop complaining Emmett and you'll get the job done quicker," Esme chastised in a no-nonsense tone. "Both of you wouldn't have been punished if you had picked up your muddy clothes and cleaned up here before you decided to go prancing around."

"We weren't prancing around!" Emmett protested. "Tell her, Edward." He turned to his brother who was working diligently and silently cleaning his part of the kitchen.

"We weren't prancing around." Edward dully repeated.

"That was very helpful, Edward." Emmett remarked to the latter who only shrugged his shoulders in response.

"That was what you asked me to do, Emmett," Edward reminded.

"I asked you to tell them the reason why we hastily left the house, Edward. That was what I asked." Emmett exasperatingly replied.

A tinkling laughter was heard through the house as Jasper, Alice and Carlisle entered the house. Alice was laughing along with Jasper while Carlisle was smiling widely.

"What did they do this time?" Carlisle asked Rosalie who was leaning casually against the counter looking royally unconcerned but Hermione could see that the regal blonde vampire was still smirking. He went to Esme's side and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Well, Emmett or Edward was just going to tell us why they decided to leave their wet clothes hanging on the door over there and leave big muddy prints on the kitchen floor." Rosalie promptly replied.

Alice and Jasper laughed again while Carlisle shook his head at the pair who had suddenly turned silent with the arrival of the rest of the family.

"What's the owl for?" Carlisle questioned as he regarded the brown owl, which was standing on the kitchen table in front of Hermione. The owl had remained in the same position since they had entered the house with its head tucked under a wing. Surprisingly, neither Esme nor Rosalie had thought to ask the reason why they'd brought an owl into the house. Esme had been rather furious at the state of her normally pristine kitchen and Rosalie had been … Rosalie.

"I needed one to send a letter to my friends." Hermione answered the vampire patriarch.

"Why not send an email?" Alice asked.

"Because the witches and wizards of the world are strange like that," grumbled Emmett as he scrubbed a rather stubborn mud stain on the rich brown wood flooring of the kitchen.

"Emmett! That was rather rude coming from you. You should –"

"Actually," Hermione interrupted Esme's scolding of the burly vampire. When the Cullens turned as one to look at her, she continued. "Emmett is absolutely right in regards to some of the medieval practices of the Wizarding World. That reminds me that I still got to write this letter."

"I'm gonna get you some paper and a pen then," Emmett said importantly as he looked up from his crouching position.

"Not so fast," Esme intervened before Emmett was able to move. "You are being punished right now, so you won't be moving from here until you are finished, Emmett McCarthy Cullen."

"But –"

"I don't want to hear any other protests from you Emmett." Esme sternly advised at the big vampire whose shoulders sagged in defeat. "Alice," the pixie turned to Esme in alarm, "could you get some paper and a pen for Hermione?"

"Oh, yes." Alice nodded before she disappeared.

"Would you like some tea, dear?" Esme asked Hermione pleasantly.

"Yes, that would be lovely. Thank you, Esme." Hermione replied surprised at how much Esme had sounded like the infamous Mrs. Weasley right then.

"It isn't a problem, Hermione," Esme said as she bustled about the kitchen at vampire speed.

Alice returned soon with a thick wad of multi-coloured writing paper and a whole set of fancily coloured pens. "No small measure with the Cullens."

It was the wry thought from Hermione, which earned her a chuckle from Edward. With her mind left open, the mind-reading vampire had again been snooping around reading her thoughts. She automatically closed her mind before glaring at the vampire who looked back at her with an apologetic look.

Her eyes moved back to the wad of multi-coloured writing paper in front of her. It was only then, with everything needed within arms' reach, that Hermione realised she had no idea what to write back home. She could lie and tell her friends that she just got delayed and would be making it back later than previously thought. It would be so easy to lie, just so easy to omit the truth.

How can you tell your best friends, with whom you've shared more than was imaginable, that you've been injured—even accidentally—by a vampire? Moreover, that you were currently living in a house with seven vampires around and that she was technically engaged to one of them; the same one who'd injured her in the first place.

"Oh! Your vision has fully returned?" Carlisle asked, appearing at her side.

He carefully, after assuring himself of her permission, lifted her head and examined her eye flashing a pen light into her eyes. It took a few minutes to the blond doctor to test her eyesight but once he was satisfied, he smiled reassuringly back at her.

"It seems to me that your eyesight has been fully restored but since ophthalmology has never been my forte, you might want a second opinion. We might as well get you back to the Seattle Memorial Hospital and have that Doctor Jennings take a look at you," suggested Carlisle.

A mug of hot fragrant tea appeared before her and Hermione understood that Esme had already finished preparing her tea. She did not like the idea of delaying her letter anymore but since she had no idea what to write home, she gladly accepted the alternative presented. A long trip to Seattle might do her some good.

It was nearly an hour later that Hermione found herself sitting in the back of Edward's fancy silver Volvo—her inner Gryffindor spirit screaming at the slight to her house's colours—with Emmett in the passenger seat and Edward, logically, in the driver's seat. It wouldn't have taken them that long to get on the road if Emmett had stopped whining about the cleaning chore and if Edward had not spent at least half an hour arguing with the former about which car they would use or who would be doing the driving.

Emmett had complained that Edward's car was too small for his big frame and the latter had retorted that he ought not to come if he didn't like the car. They bickered back and forth for long minutes before finally shutting when they heard Hermione—sitting in the back seat—slamming the car's door shut. Even then, the pair wrestled their way to the driver's seat but Edward was the fastest to the car. Emmett had grumbled loudly before he stomped his way to the passenger door and huffed before Edward deigned unlocking the door.

"What? I thought you said that my 'lady car'," Edward air-quoted, "was too small for a big guy like you."

"It is small," whinged Emmett, "but I sense adventure coming with that little one in the back." He turned to smirk at Hermione who scoffed in response. "Anyway, why can't I move this seat backward more? I'm being crammed in here."

"Are you going to complain all the way to Seattle? If it's so, you might as well stay here, Emmett," griped Edward. "And the lever's in the front. I –"

"More driving and less complaining from the both of you," ordered Hermione, from the back seat. She was getting tired from their endless bickering.

"Yes, Boss," replied Edward, grinning at her in the rear-window, before he started the engine and pulling out of the garage.

"You're not even married and she's already bossing you around, Edward!" Emmett joked.

"I'm only getting started," Hermione commented.

"I'm sure you'll like being bossed around. I've always believed you've got a kinky side hidden behind your prudish attitude, Edward," Emmett whispered only for Edward's ears. "I'm sure you are, Hermione," he added louder.

It was raining heavily outside and yet the driving speed was increasing heavily. The treeline was only a greenish blur and it alarmed Hermione. She never was a fan of speedy things.

"Hum," she coughed, gaining the attention of the two vampires who looked back at her in the rear-window. It frightened Hermione even more knowing that Edward's attention was then on her, rather than on the road. She hadn't survived the Second Wizarding War to die in a tragic car accident.

"I know that we agreed to get that Seattle hospital quickly but I'd rather we made it to the appointment with Doctor Jennings in one piece and not directly to the ER." Hermione cried, cringing as a large truck suddenly passed near the window. She hadn't even seen it coming in the first place.

"Don't worry about that. We, vampires, have superior senses and reflexes," Emmett replied, in a pompous tone.

"No risk taken, here," Edward added as he turned back to look at the road before glancing at her again in the rear-window.

"Anyway, there's one very important thing you must know about vampires. I'm actually certain that you won't find that little piece of information in the mountain of books in that magical library of yours'," Emmett whispered, in a confidential tone.

He even looked around as though expecting someone to eavesdrop in on the conversation going in the silver bullet that was Edward's car. The thought brought a smile to Hermione's lips. "I won't tell a soul," she murmured, in response.

"Okay, we'll trust you in on this little secret of ours, Hermione," Edward said.

"Don't I feel lucky," Hermione muttered, with a roll of her eyes.

The vampires chuckled in response before they chorused, "We feel the need … the need for speed!"

Hermione snorted at the _big_ secret that was shared with her. Yet, it was in an unexpected and hilarious turn of events, that the engine chose the next moment to stop altogether and Edward had to steer the car quickly to avoid a serious case of aquaplaning on the road. It took the vampires by surprise and the car finally stopped next to a road panel with directions to La Push. The three of them remained silent from the shock not comprehending what had happened.

It was only after a few minutes of the awkward silence that Hermione wisely said, "Now, I guess you feel the need … the need for a cab!"

The two vampires swivelled sharply on their seats to look at her before, as one, the trio burst out laughing. For long minutes, they laughed so much that Hermione had tears in her eyes. She was left nearly breathless. It was Edward, however, who stopped laughing the first as he eyed the road panel in front of the car.

"We can't stay here," Edward said, in a serious tone.

Emmett immediately sobered up as he too noticed the road panel telling them that the next road on the right side led to La Push. "Yeah," he agreed. "We need to check what's wrong with your lady-car." That earned a glare from Edward and renewed laughter from Hermione.

"Let's get this done quickly before the wolves come for our hide," Edward told his brother.

"Okay," Emmett replied, before he opened the door followed by Edward.

The pair of them lifted the hood of the car to check on the engine or whatever was wrong with the car. It did not take the two of them long before the hood of the car was closed again with a loud clang and the vampires appeared back in the car dripping wet.

"So, how does it look? " Hermione asked the two vampires in front of them.

"It looks like we'll be stuck here for long and we can't risk that. We're just outside the border but staying so long here might anger the wolves," Edward informed her.

"Yeah, that lot got a severe anger management problem. As serious as Edward's," Emmett joked and laughed heartily when Edward glared at him.

"Can you be serious for once and call home. And will you tell Rosalie to stop tinkering with the cars?" Edward asked angrily.

"It's not my Rosie's fault that your fancy car is pathetic on long distances," Emmett complained.

"Emmett!" Edward growled.

"Okay, okay. I'm calling home. Seriously, no need to bite my head off," Emmett uttered. "Serious anger management problem," he added, winking at Hermione who only shook her head back at him.

"Hey, Alice! Where's Rosalie?" Emmett asked. He put the phone on loud-speaker.

"She's in the garage working on her car!" Alice chirped, in reply. "Already in Seattle, then?"

Hermione could detect a hint of smug satisfaction in Alice's voice. That only meant –

"You already knew!" Emmett exclaimed.

Laughter was heard over the phone and if Hermione hadn't been stuck in the car in the middle of nowhere, she would have found the situation equally hilarious. But, right then, she didn't have the heart to laugh.

"Of course, I already saw that happen and if Edward had been paying attention instead of bickering with you, he would have also known," Alice answered smugly. "Oh, before I forget, Rosalie also mentioned that she neglected to share the fact that the Volvo wasn't yet finished."

"That's not really nice, Alice." They heard Esme remark.

"It isn't," Alice started but did not elaborate any further.

"Now what?" Edward breathed, an exasperated look on his face as he looked back at Emmett who only shrugged in response.

"I guess you'll have to wait for us to get to you. Yes, I know that you're near the wolves' territory but Rosalie has been massively tinkering with all the cars and she'll have to check the cars individually. Once, she's sure at least two cars are in working order, we'll get to you."

"Please make it quick," Emmett implored. "I'm gonna be bored here with Edward."

Another glare was directed at Emmett who grinned right back at Edward.

"Will do," Alice replied, with a laugh before ending the call.

"Seriously, you must tell Rosalie off on tinkering with others' cars," Edward asked. "It's annoying."

"I know that but you know Rosie," Emmett replied, tentatively.

"So, she's the one bossing you around?" Edward questioned, a teasing lilt in his voice.

"Of course, not," Emmett replied, affronted.

"Then, are you going to tell her off or not?" Edward insisted.

"I will," Emmett confirmed.

That earned a smirk from Edward. He knew that Rosalie would not take well to being told off by Emmett and Edward had probably led the former to his doom. Silence fell in the car as everyone watched the downpour outside. Emmett was whistling an unknown tune while Edward was drumming his fingers on the wheel.

Hermione had never been patient and she wanted to get this trip over quickly. She pulled out her wand.

"Impervius," she stated, waving the wand at herself.

The two vampires in the front immediately turned to her at the unknown word.

"Is that some unknown British slang?" Emmett asked.

"No, it's a spell," answered Hermione. "It makes something or someone repel and literally, become impervious to substances and outside forces. That will include the rain oustide," she added pointing at the downpour outside the window.

"What are you going to do?" Edward asked, in apprehension.

"Never mind that now, Eddie," hushed Emmett. "Let me get this straight. You let us get out in this torrential rain when you could have waved our stick to make us stay dry?"

"Erm, yes and it's a wand, Emmett," answered Hermione, in a semi-remorseful tone, the upward tick of her lips gave her away.

"You are cruel," Emmett proclaimed.

"Oh, I can solve that easily," Hermione said.

"What? You're going back in time to stop us from going outside so that we don't get wet and then, you'll be waving your wand at us. Then, we'll go check the engine and return in here but this time, we would be dry?" Emmett questioned.

"We could but we would need a Time-tuner for that and since, we've smashed all the Time-turners at the Ministry two years ago –" Hermione commented, "– that would be impossible."

Emmett's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "What business were you doing in that Ministry of yours' smashing Time-turners and what the fuck are Time-turners?" He inquired.

"That's a story for another time, Emmett," Hermione said, with finality.

She opened the car-door before hauling herself out of it. The rain was terrible and the visibility was quasi-null. Hermione looked both ways and wasn't able to distinguish if there were approaching cars or not. The vampires were still comfortably sitting in the car. She banged her hand on the roof and ordered, "Get out!"

The pair was almost instantly standing to her left, the car swaying only a little from the two near-simultaneous slamming of doors.

"We're gonna get wet again," complained Emmett.

"Oh, poor baby!" Hermione mocked before she moved in front of them. "Impervious," she waved her wand over Edward before repeating the same process over Emmett.

"Hey!" Emmett cried, in wonder. "It's like the rain is bouncing off of you, Edward!"

"Yes, that's the principle of a repelling spell, Emmett," Hermione replied sarcastically.

"Ha, Miss Smart Mouth!" Emmett countered.

Rolling her eyes, Hermione non-verbally casted the Hot-Air Charm on the pair; the blast of hot air quickly drying them.

"Awesome," Edward remarked.

"Yep, it'll be fun having you around Hermione!" Emmett exclaimed.

"So, what now?" Edward asked.

"Now?" Hermione asked. At his nod, she announced, "Now, dear boys, we're going to Seattle."

"We are not going to hitch-hike or something?" Edward said.

"Boys! So impatient and so little faith," tsked Hermione.

She glanced back at the road before looking at Edward and Emmett. She wanted to see the vamps' reactions. She only hoped that the Knight Bus also served that part of the country. Hermione had read once that services similar to the Knight Bus were available in countries other than her own. Even in the States.

Keeping an eye on the pair of vampires, Hermione flung out her right arm; her wand arm.

"Didn't we say no hitch-hik –" Emmett started.

BANG.

The vampires jumped about two feet in the air at the sound of the sudden detonation. Their reaction was expected but it did not stop Hermione from laughing. It was that hilarious seeing the vampires caught off-guard.

A violently purple, triple-decker bus had appeared out of thin air in front of them. It narrowly avoided colliding with the road panel—the one that made Edward and Emmett nervous—which jumped backwards out of its way. To Hermione, it seemed that not only was the service identical but the Knight Bus' fleet was identical this side of the Atlantic.

A thin, pimply, and gangly youth in a purple uniform appeared at the doorway, which slid open. It also seemed that the employees of the Knight Bus were nearly-identical because there, before her, stood someone who could easily be passed off as a twin of Stan Shunpike.

The Stan Shunpike lookalike leapt down onto the pavement and said, "Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport –"

"Yeah, yeah, we know, thank you," Hermione interrupted swiftly. "We're in a hurry. We need to get to Seattle quickly."

"To the Wizarding district of Seattle?" inquired the youth.

"No, at least not yet. We need to get to the Seattle Memorial Hospital. Is that possible and how much will it cost?" asked Hermione.

"Of course, we can," he answered proudly. "We can go anywhere as long as it is not over big water surfaces. It will cost eleven Sickles for the trip or a five-fifty in Muggle money," he said as he eyed her company.

"They are paying," Hermione replied as she climbed on-board the bus. "You coming," she asked turning to the two who were still goggling at the bus in front of them.

Emmett instantly appeared next to her while Edward locked his beloved car. He also appeared behind her, the Stan Shunpike lookalike was now the one gaping at them.

"Vamps!" He yelped.

"Yeah, but don't worry. They're well-trained," informed Hermione.

The Bus was empty, save for an old couple at the back of the bus who were still getting to their feet, grumbling. The trio made their way to the nearest mismatched chairs strewn haphazardly around the windows, the gangly youth following them. Once they were seated and Edward handed the required amount back, the bus set off again, swaying ominously. It rumbled in direction of La Push, weaving on and off the road before with another tremendous BANG, they were all flung backwards; Emmett's chair toppled right over to the latter's shock and Edward's delight.

Hermione looked out the window: they were now speeding down what appeared to be a touristic road alongside what she thought was the California coast.

"You're lucky," the Stan Shunpike lookalike informed them. "We only need to drop off the Banks over there –" Hermione glanced at the old couple in the back, "– somewhere in the Bayou, near Houma. Then, we can come back and drop you off in Seattle. My name's Kyle, by the way. Kyle Collins."

"Hold on there. Does that mean that we are going all the way to Louisiana and back again?" Emmett asked, again comfortably seated.

BANG.

Chairs slid backwards again as the Knight Bus jumped from the California Coast to another scenic road in the middle of Monument Valley. The bus moved quickly along the valley lit in multiple hues of rose or red.

"Dang, and I forgot to bring a camera," Emmett complained. "I've never been able to come here during the day, you know. The glittery skin and all that jazz doesn't allow for much tourist trekking."

"True," Edward agreed. The mind-reading vampire was admiring the landscape floating out of the window. He turned to smile genuinely at his brother and Hermione.

"So, where are you from, Brit girl?" asked Kyle, his dull blue eyes landing on her.

"From Britain, obviously!" answered Hermione, barely suppressing rolling her eyes at the rather stupid question.

"Has the War been that bad other there? Were you in it? You look like you're of age for Hogwarts? Do you know the Gryffindor Trio? Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger? What's your name anyway?" the young lad fired question after question.

"Yes, yes, finished my schooling, yes. That's their names, yeah. Penelope Clearwater."

Hermione was only willing to provide—for the time being—very short answers concerning her participation in the War. Of course, she gave a false name thankful of the anonymity it provided. She did notice, however, that her accompanying pair had matching questioning looks on their faces.

BANG.

They were rolling through the dark marshes that announced the deep Bayou and they dropped off the Banks on the outskirts of the small town of Houma before with another terrific BANG, the bus left the Bayou and they found themselves on a mountain road in the Rockies. Another BANG later brought them directly to Seattle and before long, the Knight Bus rolled to a halt outside the bustling entrance of the Seattle Memorial Hospital. Like expected, nobody paid the purple triple-decker bus any attention and the Bloody Trio got off the bus.

"We'll need the bus for the journey back," reminded Hermione, turning to the conductor.

"You know how to call the Knight Bus, okay?" Kyle said, appearing at the door. "So, until then, have a good day," he greeted, before closing the door.

The bus squeezed its way between the crowded streets of the rainy city before it disappeared with another BANG a few seconds later.

Her appointment with Doctor Jennings went smoothly enough and the trio found themselves on the Knight Bus only half an hour later. This time, however, they were going directly to Forks since there were no other customers.

It was to the surprise of the rest of the family that they came back home in a purple triple-decker bus that had directly appeared in their lane with a customary BANG.

While Emmett gushed to the family about his unexpected but fantastic adventure, Edward led Hermione back to his room to rest, the latter falling asleep once her head hit the pillow.

When she woke up later, Hermione finally managed writing her letter. It was rather short and concise, Hermione having strategically omitted the part concerning the vampire family. It was also to her great relief that the owl that they captured understood the task meant for it. Once the letter was finished, it hopped on the desk towards her and Hermione only had to assure that the letter was secured before sending away the owl.

The moment the owl was out of view, Hermione turned away from the window to see that Edward had been watching her the whole time.

"So, did Emmett tell Rosalie off?" Hermione asked, cheerily.

"Yes, he did," Edward answered, a wide grin showing on his face.

"And?" prompted Hermione.

"He's got to go to Seattle again tomorrow with Jasper," snickered Edward.

"What for?" Hermione asked, perplexed.

"He's gonna need new tyres for his Jeep: he apparently found his shredded tyres lying in a neat pile next to his now tyre-less car," Edward replied, in a gleeful tone.

Laughter filled the house after hearing that, Hermione joining in joyfully.

* * *

**Author note:**

I'll end this here. Another little bit of bonding with Edward and Emmett for Hermione. We'll deal with the rest of the family later.

As usual, I wish to end this chapter by saying that the response to this story is above my highest expectations. I take the opportunity to thank everyone that have reviewed, listed it as one of their favourites or put a story alert for it.

**Thanks to all reviewers: **MagicAndDemons4Ever, Sampdoria, NorthernLights25, Lisa Francis 96780, flyingberry, AriesPrincess-Slyffindor, Glitter Poisoned My Blood, sherychery7, I Aim Higher, dragonfly1339, amata0221, pyroseyes, nathaliie, Love Comes From Pain, Twipotterfreak28, smilin steph, random yet lovable, MoonWatersLight, ashgoth, loveinfinity, Amortentia-Malfoy, invisible-gurl, peggy, I've Got An Itch, vepattinson, HermisLupim26, Lucky Dude, Amiami, Lady Mia Granger, Hopeful, E J ect, Sandrine Loves Ryan Philippe, kkroonie, sasha, queenofgoblins, Ptit Con, Amjed, Black, Guest 4/16/13, Tay, ShadowsOfTheDay, Dores, OKamiOo, LillianMarie2, dark m00n angel, Desi-Pari Always, Agus DW, Guest 7/17/13, EmmaM21, Lord-Crazy-Snape, Jay, Venus914, smurfette81013, Uppity, JIPEE, Jeluem, Ines Marie Pattinson, India And Jovica, Manu Qanu, Len Of March, Sim Uley Ter, The Crazy Wizard, The Belle Nabab, Gimana Nanti, Alfath Rosier, SuperPotterWhoLockFan, crotia

As always, take care of yourselves and have a great day.

Love,

**Ludo**


	12. A Story Shared

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the intellectual property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**Chapter note: **

Sorry, this is not a new chapter. I've only realised after reading a review that I've posted an incomplete chapter. I've changed that but there's not much that's been added. Only a few lines at the end of the chapter and a completed end note.

By the way, I'm thinking of putting up a poll for my new project stories at the end of the month. For your information, there are twelve stories; three Hermione/Cedric, one Hermione/Carlisle, one Hermione/Emmett and seven Edward/Hermione. Sorry, no wolves for now. You'll be given as a Christmas gift the first chapter of the one finishing at the top by the end of the poll on the fifteenth December. And, the first chapter of the story at second place on New Year's Eve. So, don't forget to vote by then (an author note will be sent) or you can also leave your ideas in a review (there's a not updated list on my profile page. Anyway, kudos to everyone.

**A Story Shared**

"Ha, you're having fun at my expense, ain't it?" asked Emmett a few seconds later.

"Us?" replied Edward, in a falsely shocked voice. "We would never dare do such an horrendous thing, Emmett." The delighted grin on Edward's face however betrayed the latter.

"Yeah, I can see how serious you are," quipped Emmett, in response.

"Anyway, –" Emmett turned to Hermione with a Slytherin-worthy smirk "– tell us, my dear Penelope Clearwater. Why the fake name?"

Edward also had turned to Hermione when he heard Emmett's question. Hermione stayed silent contemplating her options before her gaze fell on Edward. In retrospect, it would only be a fair example of reciprocity towards the vampires who'd shared their own stories with her. But, Hermione could only ask herself if she felt ready to relive the last few years. The darkest hours of the war were still lingering in her mind. It might be too painful to through that yet.

Her eyes again flicked on Edward. The vampire had been so open to her and the Cullens had been so pleasantly accommodating despite the unusual circumstances of her arrival. She knew what she had to do.

"It's a relatively long story," began Hermione, "and I'd rather recount it only once, Emmett."

"Aren't you in luck then?" said Emmett, a pleased smile spreading on his face. "Our dear doctor Cullen is home now and if I'm not mistaken, he isn't due until tomorrow at his beloved hospital. We are all here to listen to your long story."

"I think it would however be better for everyone if we did this in the living room instead of crowding Edward's room," suggested Hermione, receiving a nod in response from the latter.

"Story time," announced Emmett—rather loudly—calling the family even though it wasn't necessary.

The Cullens and Hermione seated themselves around the white couches before she launched full speed into recounting the fantastic story of her life as a witch.

"First off, I was born on the nineteenth September 1987 to Richard and Helen Granger—dentists by profession—ordinary Muggles for wizards." Hermione figured that if she were to tell her story she might as well start from the beginning.

"What's a Muggle?" asked Carlisle, intrigued by the foreign word.

"It's the term used by wizards for the ordinary people, those born without magic from no wizarding parents. That makes me a Muggleborn or a Mudblood –" she spat the word "– in the Wizarding world. There's a bigger picture behind that simple explanation and we might as well get this done."

"Wizards and witches have existed through time. Circe, Morgana Le Fay or Merlin have really existed. Somewhere, probably at the end of the tenth or the beginning of the eleventh century, two wizards and two witches—the four of them were exceptionally talented and unmatched in magical prowess—vowed their lives to the education of the young wizards and witches. It was necessary since the uneducated masses of the time were very superstitious and any mention of magic or suspicion of practice of it was likely to have the designated guilty sent to the pyre."

"That's what would have happened to Alec and Jane had Aro not intervened," interjected Alice. "Their powers had scared the village folks so much that they'd been condemned to the pyre."

"That's probably because the twins were magical, right?" asked Jasper.

Hermione nodded in response. "Most probably. So, this merry group of four, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin, founded the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

She ignored the sniggers and the chuckles of the Cullens at hearing the names. It wasn't as though she hadn't thought the same when Professor McGonagall had told them the name of the school.

"They built the school from scratch. Walls, the undergrounds, towers, courtyards, etc. It was an eclectic style that blended in to create the massive castle that houses the school. It sits on a hillside in the highlands of Scotland hidden from prying eyes by a fantastic array of concealment charms. You wouldn't know it was there even if you happened to be peering through the castle gates. To the Muggles, the castle is nearly impossible to find and even if one managed to come near, they'd see an old castle in ruins. Once done, the four scoured Great Britain to look for young students. It wasn't always easy. They'd often encounter resistance from Muggleborns and their parents. It was a whole other story with Purebloods—those born from wizarding families—their children were guaranteed a place in Hogwarts from their births onwards."

"How so?" asked Carlisle. "If the school was newly started, it would be impossible for those children to have such a place,"

"That's thanks to the Quill of Acceptance and the Book of Admittance," replied Hermione. At the blank looks she received, Hermione elaborated, "The Quill of Acceptance and the Book of Admittance are two powerful artefacts that were created by the founders shortly before the school's completion. The quill is used to detect the births of all magical children and wrote their names down in a big, parchment book. The book was most probably created by Slytherin because it served as a regulatory system, only allowing the quill to write in it when sufficient magical ability was displayed, thus preventing entry to Squibs. Squibs are children born to magical parents but displaying very little or no magical ability."

"Anyway, the four founders worked together for long years and decades without problems before a rift eventually began to grow between Slytherin and the other three. Slytherin despised those he considered unworthy –"

"Let me guess; the muggleborns," interrupted Rosalie.

"Exactly," agreed Hermione. "Anyway, there's this big falling out between Slytherin and the rest of the founders. The history books are divided on the happenstance but it is generally agreed that Gryffindor and Slytherin—former BFFs—dueled but Slytherin was defeated. He left Hogwarts but before leaving, he'd built a secret chamber under the massive castle and hid a monster inside. He prophesized that his descendant would one day open the chamber and release the terror within to purge the school of those deemed unworthy."

"And the Chamber was opened?" asked Emmett.

"Unfortunately, yes and it was opened twice," replied Hermione, shivering as she remembered the glowing yellow eyes of the Basilisk.

Hermione saw Jasper followed by Edward glance at her. They did not comment.

"Who opened the Chamber?" asked Emmett, eagerly.

"It was a descendant of Slytherin, Emmett," answered Alice in her place. "That's what he prophesized."

"Yeah, that," Emmett replied, abashed.

"So," continued Hermione, "we'll get back to that later. Anyway, with the departure of Slytherin, the school prospered. Nevertheless, the damage was already done. A majority of the Purebloods agreed with Slytherin's motto. Magic should be kept among the purebloods. Luckily for a few centuries, there was no consensus. However, the witch-hunts grew even fiercer, wizarding families began to live double lives, using charms of concealment to protect themselves and their families. And, by the seventeenth century, wizard-Muggle relations were at their worst."

"So, they hid themselves," concluded Carlisle.

"Yes, in 1689, the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy is a law laid down by the International Confederation of Wizards," said Hermione.

"You have your own government?" asked Alice, surprised.

"Vampires have their own government, why couldn't we have ours?" replied Hermione.

"I'm just surprised, that's all," said Alice.

"Are you also going to tell us what business you had in breaking into that Ministry of yours?" asked Emmett.

"Yes, Emmett. It actually happened twice but we'll get to that although that's going to be much later. The Statute was enforced worldwide three years later by every Ministry of Magic. So, magical beasts, beings, and spirits were concealed, taken care of and controlled."

"What kind of beasts?" asked Emmett, eagerly.

"Just the usual; fairies, gnomes, owls, leprechauns, pixies, winged –"

"There's nothing really dangerous," interrupted Emmett, in a disappointed tone.

"I was getting there, Emmett," said Hermione. "So, winged horses, centaurs, trolls, griffins, merpeople, phoenix, sphinxes, unicorns, yetis. If those weren't enough, there's also the highly dangerous types like acromantulas, basilisks, chimaeras, dragons, manticores, lethifold, nundus, quintapeds, and werewolves."

"Werewolves? Real ones?" asked Alice. At Hermione's nod, Alice burst out laughing. "Caius thinks he's gotten rid of them and all the while, they were hidden from him."

"Can I have a dragon?" asked Emmett, curiously.

"It would be unwise of you to try that as real dragons breathe fire and all things considered ..."

"Yeah, that would be kind of bothersome to be incinerated by your pet dragon," sighed Emmett.

That was followed by a snort from Hermione who'd thought of Hagrid and his pet dragon, Norbert. Although, Norbert turned out to be a Norberta.

"What kind of animal can I keep as a pet, Hermione?" asked Emmett.

"Don't even think about it, Emmett!" snapped Rosalie.

"But, Rosie," sniffed Emmett.

"No, Emmett," said Rosalie, with finality.

The big vampire hung his head in defeat. "Do you have a pet, yourself?" he questioned, curiosity shining in his eyes.

"I have Crookshanks –" started Hermione, before she was interruped again by Emmett.

"What's a Crookshanks?"

"Will you let the girl talk instead of the constant interruptions?" asked Rosalie, a hint of her irritation at her Husband showing in her voice.

"I'm just curious, Rosie. There's no need to bite my head off," defended the large vampire.

"Crookshanks is my cat. He's a half-Kneazle. A Kneazle is a magical race of cats," explained Hermione.

Sensing no further interruptions coming, a smiling Hermione ploughed on. "Anyway, the magical world went into hiding but it did not stop madmen from rising. Once and again, a dark wizard reared his ugly head and tried to break the law. But none were as more dangerous than the last one; Voldemort."

"What a strange name," said Esme. "It makes it sound as if ... did he do something to escape his own death?" questioned the Cullen matriarch.

"Yes, unfortunately," confirmed Hermione. "Sadly, just like his name foretold, Lord Voldemort found a way to flee from death,"

"But, how can someone cheat death?" asked Carlisle.

"You're really asking this, Carlisle?" asked Jasper. "We're vampires."

"There are certain ways to cheat death, Carlisle," replied Hermione. "Voldemort simply found the worst possible way to achieve that."

"How did he do it?" asked Emmett.

"He killed. He killed people, didn't he?" suggested Esme.

"Yes," confimed Hermione, sadly. "He was so ambitious in his quest for power that he was unscrupulous. He killed whoever fought him or dared stand in his way. He didn't mind killing his own followers if he thought he'd get more powerful with that dreadful dead."

Of course, the memory of Snape's murder still lingered in the back of her mind and Hermione wasn't the least bit surprised when she saw Edward's eyes widen from witnessing the vivid and gory memory playing in her head. He, however, didn't comment. Hermione was really surprised thas Edward hadn't shared a thing since she'd started telling her story. However, she figured that he was taking this opportunity to learn more about her.

It wasn't that much surprising, at least to Edward, that Hermione's story was captivating her audience. It was why the family interrupted the story at regular intervals with questions about whatsits and whatnots. The Cullens were all very curious and fascinated with this story of a parallel world to theirs. Carlisle was the epitome of curiosity. He was listening with rapt attention to Hermione and was burning with curiosity as was Esme, Alice and Rosalie. Jasper, like the other members of the family was fascinated with everything he was hearing.

Emmett was unsurprisingly the best audience. Emmett looked like a kid waiting eagerly for a new story hanging on every word he heard. He was even sprawled over one couch, his head resting on the armrest and his feet dangling over the other side. He cheered, ooh-ed, aah-ed, laughed, snickered, booed, and growled at all the right places.

And, yet, like Hermione had observed, Edward interrupted her or shared his thoughts. He hadn't uttered a single word since Hermione started her story and from hearing the thought lingering in Hermione's mind, Edward smiled. Hermione had been very astute in her reading of him. It was true.

It was a unique opportunity ro Edward to learn more of and about Hemione. It was what had defined and shaped Hermione into the fantastic woman he had only glanced before. It was her story. The magical world was her life.

He watched her, observed her, analyzed her. He memorised what made her smile; her friends and parents, what made her sad; the fallen friends and her memory-less parents. He decrypted the little mannerisms that defined Hermione. It was her. It was Hermione.

He'd understood from hearing her story that Hermione held her friends' opinions in high esteem. None more than Ron and Harry. Mostly Harry. And if he wasn't mistaken, Hermione would never agree to marry him if her two best friends disapproved of him. And Edward being a vampire, he was already at a disadvantage.

Later, after Hermione's dinner and a quick hunt, Edward asked Hermione a question that had been bugging him since the end of the story.

"What do you like to do when you're not worrying about your friends?" he asked, as she was settling herself in a couch.

"I thought we've already covered that in the last hours," said Hermione, perplexed.

"What I've learned is that Hermione has spent her last years worrying herself to death for her friends. I don't disapprove actually, it's humbling to know that you could burn my sparkling bum with a wave pinky finger," he explained before ploughing on. "What I'd actually want to know is what the mighty Hermione Granger likes to do in her free time? And I'm not talking about books. There must have been something you liked before going to Hogwarts?"

It was true that, from Edward's perspective or anyone else for that matter, one would think that Hermione's life was centred around her friends. It was admirable how loyal she was to her friends and everything but there must have been something else. Even in her childhood.

From the look on Hermione's face, Edward surmised that it had been a long time that someone had actually bothered to ask Hermione that question. Thus, he was pleased when Hermione smiled brightly back at him.

"Well, –" she started.

**Author note: **

I'll end this here. I'm awfully sorry for the short chapter. I'll over-compensate everyone with the next chapter. It should be a longer one and for teaser purpose, it will be titled: A First Date.

I wanted the chapter to be longer with Hermione recalling all her years at Hogwarts with the Cullens analysing everything in between. But, that's been done and redone in almost all crossovers, so I've changed my mind. Half of the reason for that was motivated by the lengthiness that would have resulted from that. The other half was plain laziness on my part, I'm afraid.

**Thanks to all reviewers: **Gimana Nanti51, Alfath Rosier, Superpotterwho, Crotia, LeonaMasha, Babynora1983, NorthernLights25, Lisa Francis 96780, Grovek26, Amata0221, Vepattinson, Desi-Pari Always, Flyingberry, Random yet lovable, Montara, VampireWitch456, Luvudramione, Sampdoria, xXBelieverXx, Ana, Guest11313, BelvaRoze, Beautiful-Tyrant77, HarryHermioneEdwardBella, Guest71113, Maiannaise, Roula, GrangerDanger Lol, Fanatic-ism, Guest101213, Angelofheaven001, AshLiz, Gabriella651, KaylahPeta, LostInASeaOfPeople, Pyra Sanada, Klein, Grace, Silent12reader, Meldz, Deanna4403, Pianomouse, MissMiaPotter-AshSun19680, Free-wall-e, Purple sky always, Hermione24, Twztdwildcat & Jallison099

As usual, I wish to end this chapter by saying that the response to this story is above my highest expectations. I take the opportunity to thank everyone that have reviewed, listed it as one of their favourites or put a story alert for it.

As always, take care of yourselves and have a great day.

Love,

**Ludo**


	13. Author note and announcement

**Author note:**

**1. And If? (Hermione/Edward):**

Wouldn't it be strange if out of the blue, you started hearing the voice of someone in your head. For a mind-reader like Edward, it shouldn't feel that strange. That, however, isn't really the case because not only is Edward able to hear her thoughts but she's able to hear his. The other problem Edward has is that the girl doesn't even seem to be in the area. Hell, she thinks she's dead.

**2. Beautiful in White (Hermione/Edward):**

Bella had been bitten by James and Edward was distraught. In his panicked state, Edward disappeared with a pop only to appear before her and she was beautiful in white. A white wedding dress. This story will be a twist on the classic Wedding Law plotline.

**3. Bossy Little Chit (Hermione/Cedric):**

"Diggory! We need to talk!" "Careful there, Cedric. She's a bossy little chit and it looks like you're in for one major heartbreak," teased one of his friends. "So, Diggory... you're the Headboy right?" "Yeah, I am. You should know since you're a prefect." "Your main job is to look after the welfare of the students, isn't it? To make sure that the students are feeling alright? That they are not hurt whether it was emotionally or physically?" "Yeah, it is but is there..." "You'd do anything to ensure that, won't you?" "Of course, Granger! But, I..." "Anything?" "Of course, I'd do. I take my responsibilities seriously. Look here, Granger! I still don't understand..." "I need you to go out with me!" "I... erm... WHAT?"

**4. Dawn of My Life (Hermione/Edward):**

It was because of her mistake and her stubbornness that Edward was killed sacrificing himself to save her. Condemned to life imprisonment in Azkaban, Hermione gets the shocking news that she's pregnant to boot. How can she raise up her daughter in such a hell? Won't anyone come to her aid?

**5. For My Daughter (Hermione/Carlisle):**

"I am pleased to inform you of the granting of the guardianship of your daughter by the British Ministry of Magic." "There must be a mistake? I have no such daughter." "Do you remember the New Year's Eve of 1990?" Yes, I do... FUCK!"

Hermione and Carlisle in a father/daughter relationship. An AU story with the vampires and wizards.

**6. The Fear of the Unknown (Hermione/Cedric):**

The sequel to my first multi-chaptered story; A Second Chance. The story will focus on Hermione and Cedric's family trials with a major story arc that will deal with a fight to repeal the Statute of Secrecy.

**7. The Proposal (Hermione/Edward):**

Edward is attracted to his colleague, Hermione and when her passport expires, she asked to leave the country. The only problem is that Hermione doesn't want to go back to England because of her ex-fiancé. So, Emmett has what he thinks is the brightest idea of all time. Edward disagrees. AU/AH

**8. The Therapy (Hermione/Emmett):**

When Emmett decides it is up to him to break the sheriff's niece from her PTSD using his own therapy method, it can lead to total chaos.

**9. Walking on Thin Ice (Hermione/Edward):**

It was Aro's idea to have a new partner for Edward after Bella suffers a terrible injury. What Edward's coach had not expected was all the drama that would have resulted from bringing in the British figure skater. Initial Bella/Edward.

**10. We Shall Conquer (Hermione/Cedric):**

When her father believes Hermione is drifting away from them, he decides that his wife and him need to be more involved in the going-ons of the Wizarding World. However, he was rather ill-inspired when he becomes the owner of a professional Quidditch team and of the worst of all teams: the Chuddley Cannons.

**11. Welcome to the Family (Hermione/Carlisle):**

AU. Emmett, Alice and Edward are Hermione's younger siblings. With then war raging around them, they have to send their parents away and when Voldemort takes control of the ministry, they seek refuge in their grandfather Marcus' house.

**12. What Happens in Vegas? (Hermione/Edward):**

A spin of mine on the classic 'wake up drunk and married' plotline. Hermione and Edward are roommates in their freshman year at Harvard. How do they end up drunk and married in Vegas? Well, it's mostly because of Jacob and Bella. And Vegas was Emmett's idea. See my one shot story 'In Apnea' which is actually an outtake from this story for more.

So, here you go. These are my twelve story projects. The vote is on till the fifteenth of December. Like promised, the first chapter of the story finishing in first will be published on Christmas day and for that story finishing in second on New Year's Eve. That's the deal, so don't forget to vote.

Take care,

Ludo


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